In her debut, Proskurina portrays the psychological paralysis of the last, lost Soviet generation based on a love story in which there is a criminal twist. A young couple grows up when the boy becomes involved in criminal activities.
Svetlana Proskurina’s début feature is a love story with a criminal twist. Zhanna and Roman are very young and independent: she left the orphanage to work at a factory, and he is an ambulance driver. Their life together is seemingly uncomplicated and they rely on each other to survive the challenges of the hostile world around them. Beyond the surface of a simple romance lies a darker story of coming of age, choosing one’s destiny and facing the grim realities and compromises of adulthood. Roman gets involved in a criminal gang and finds himself torn between his commitments and his wild desire to succeed whatever the cost.
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commentaries
Proskurina attempts to capture the state of psychological paralysis and decline of the last and 'lost' young Soviet generation. The director is intensely focused on her characters and the psychology of their disintegration, thus escaping the danger of turning the film into a piece of 'applied social criticism'.
In this early work Proskurina shows her preference for intimate, small-scale, mundane stories which, in spite of their singular nature, have a universal appeal and capture the fundamental traits of the 'human condition'. In this film she collaborated for the first time with Pavel Finn, who later on wrote the script for one of her most acclaimed films Accidental Waltz. (MB)
Proskurina attempts to capture the state of psychological paralysis and decline of the last and 'lost' young Soviet generation. The director is intensely focused on her characters and the psychology of their disintegration, thus escaping the danger of turning the film into a piece of 'applied social criticism'.
In this early work Proskurina shows her preference for intimate, small-scale, mundane stories which, in spite of their singular nature, have a universal appeal and capture the fundamental traits of the 'human condition'. In this film she collaborated for the first time with Pavel Finn, who later on wrote the script for one of her most acclaimed films Accidental Waltz. (MB)