Vladimir KOTT
Владимир КОТТ
Vladimir KOTT
Russia, 2010, 100mn 
Colour, fiction
Gromozeka
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Громозека

 

 Gromozeka

 Gromozeka

 
Directed by : Vladimir KOTT (Владимир КОТТ)
Writing credits : Vladimir KOTT (Владимир КОТТ)
 
Cast
Nikolay DOBRYNIN (Николай ДОБРЫНИН) ...Kaminski
Polina FILONENKO (Полина ФИЛОНЕНКО) ...Liza, Morezov's daughter
Leonid GROMOV (Леонид ГРОМОВ) ...Mozerov
Boris KAMORZIN (Борис КАМОРЗИН) ...Gromov, policeman
Yevgeniya DOBROVOLSKAIA (Евгения ДОБРОВОЛЬСКАЯ) ...Larisa Gromova
Valeria GAI GERMANIKA (Валерия ГАЙ ГЕРМАНИКА)
Dmitry GOREVOJ (Дмитрий ГОРЕВОЙ)
Donatas GRUDOVICH (Донатас ГРУДОВИЧ)
 
Cinematography : Ruslan GERASIMENKOV (Руслан ГЕРАСИМЕНКОВ), Grigori VOLODIN (Григорий ВОЛОДИН)
Music : Anton SILAYEV (Антон СИЛАЕВ)
Produced by : Yevgeni GINDILIS (Евгений ГИНДИЛИС)
Production : TVINDI
Film revenue in Russia : 0.0045 million dollars
Release date in Russia : 23/06/2011
 
Sites : Page Allociné, Page IMDb
VOD or DVD release in France : 2017-03-18, Site

Awards :
Best directing FilmFestival Cottbus - Festival of East European Cinema, Cottbus (Germany), 2011
Audience Award FilmFestival Cottbus - Festival of East European Cinema, Cottbus (Germany), 2011
First prize Honfleur Russian Film Festival, Honfleur (France), 2011
Best actor Leonid GROMOV , Boris KAMORZIN , Nikolay DOBRYNIN , Honfleur Russian Film Festival, Honfleur (France), 2011
Special Prize Olga ONISHCHENKO , Honfleur Russian Film Festival, Honfleur (France), 2011

Plot synopsis
Funny, serious and touching at the same time, the film follows three parallel stories of old school friends and former fellow band members. Now a police officer, taxi driver and surgeon, all in their forties, they cross paths without realising it.
Gromozeka is the name of a band set up by three best friends in their youth. In the present day, these friends are in their forties and live in Moscow, but lost track of one another. Gromozeka is also a figure from the animation film one of them - the police officer - still seems to enjoy. Maybe because he can identify with Gromozeka’s words: 'I am so unlucky in life!' He is stuck in a rut with his work, his wife doesn't really care about him and his adult son cares even less.
The officer’s friends, a taxi driver and a surgeon, are no happier. The former finds out about the secret life of his only daughter, and thinks up a peculiar plan to deal with this. The latter, not being able to decide between his wife and his lover, finds out that the lover has taken destiny in her own hands, but later life has even more unpleasant suprises to spring.
The lives of these three old friends pass by in parallel, occasionally crossing over in sophisticated ways. This is the second film by one of the most talented Russian directors of his generation, following the international success of The Fly (2008). It’s mature, excellently acted and directed; it’s about men fighting the banality of everyday life, with its betrayals, love and aging. And about an ordinary man lost in the anonymity of a big city.
www.filmfestivalrotterdam.com
 

Commentaries and bibliography
Gromozeka : portraits ironiques de paumés, misterteesmovieclic.zeclic.fr, 2011
Завтра будет хуже, чем вчера. Громозека, режиссер Владимир Котт, Natalia SIRIVLYA, Искусствокино, 8, 2011
Прямая речь: фрагменты пресс-конференций на "Кинотавре", Искусство кино, 8, 2011
Птичку жалко [О фильме Громозека], Denis GORELOV, seance.ru, 2011
Vladimir Kott : Gromozeka (2011), Dawn SECKLER, kinokultura.com, 2011
 
When going to see a Russian film, people often have certain expectations of slow-motion, beautifully shot and somewhat nostalgic images. I might be wrong, of course.
Gromozeka is one of those modern films that takes you to contemporary Moscow in the style that reminds us a little of American masterpieces like Robert Altman's Shortcuts or Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia. A style not often seen in Russian cinema, and therefore even more appreciated.
The stories of three men and former school friends are interrelated without them realising it. Their everyday and ordinary lives encompass the struggles of a contemporary man with as background the socio-political changes of the country. Other than that, it is the survival of a simple man in a contemporary city of 12 million inhabitants.
Based on his own script, the director works out the characters very carefully, with an eye for detail and very special humour, with a pinch of satire. A very amusing film, full of small surprises.
Programmer Note by Ludmila Cvikova, www.filmfestivalrotterdam.com


Selected in the following festivals or events :
- VOD or DVD release in France of the film:, Different cities (France), 2017
- Russian film symposium. University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh (USA), 2013
- Russian Resurrection Film Festival, Different cities (Australia), 2012
- Days of Russian cinema in Limoges, Limoges (France), 2012
- Belgrade International Film Festival, Belgrade (Serbia), 2012
- Days of the russian cinema in Tunisia, Tunis / Sousse / Hammamet (Tunisia), 2012
- Sao Paulo International Film Festival, Sao Paulo (Brazil ), 2011
- Honfleur Russian Film Festival, Honfleur (France), 2011
- FilmFestival Cottbus - Festival of East European Cinema, Cottbus (Germany), 2011
- Thessaloniki International Film Festival, Thessaloniki (Greece), 2011
- Riga International Film Festival “Arsenals”, Riga (Latvia), 2011
- Rotterdam International Film Festival, Rotterdam (Netherlands), 2011
- Warsaw Film Festival, Warsaw (Poland), 2011
- Cinema and Theater Festival ''Autumn of Love'', Blagoveshchensk (Russia), 2011
- Moscow International Film Festival (MIFF), Moscow (Russia), 2011
- Independant European Film Festival VOICES, Vologda (Russia), 2011
- Open Russian Film Festival Kinotavr, Sochi (Russia), 2011
- International Human Rights Film Festival, Moscow (Russia), 2011
- Festival of Festivals, St Petersburg (Russia), 2011
- International Zurich Film Festival, Zurich (Switzerland), 2011
- Odessa International Film Festival, Odessa (Ukraine), 2011
- Russian Film Festival, London (United Kingdom), 2011
- Seattle International Film Festival : SIFF, Seattle (USA), 2011
- New Directors New Films, New York (USA), 2011

Photos and videos