You and I

Life tells us that interpreting recent feelings and experiences artistically can be very difficult, and the endeavour to do so is not always entirely successful. From the very start of her filmmaking career Shepitko set herself demanding tasks, choosing to subject herself to scrutiny through the actions of her contemporaries: people around the age of thirty with their own ideas about life, their own plans and ambitions, but also with their own particular sense of bewilderment, helplessness and failure. The film’s three protagonists are associated by mutual friendship – the elegant Katya and her husband Pyotr, who was involved in neurosurgical research with friend Sasha. Pyotr swapped this strenuous exploratory work for a tempting position as doctor at the Soviet embassy in Sweden; nevertheless, we catch up with him when he begins to realise that the perks of his job cannot compensate for the worthy role he played back home, and now he feels completely empty. This is the moment that becomes the springboard for the director’s multilayered reflection – all the more relevant today when, exposed to the constant lure of outward success, we often turn away from our true vocation. In dramatic terms Pyotr is clearly the most encumbered character in the story and he has to stumble his way through numerous blind alleys before finding the right path. His inner quest finds a parallel in his actual journey from Moscow to the Far East, which allowed Shepitko to weave into the narrative images of diverse places and their inhabitants; together with the protagonist, we observe how they live and what they do. This personal testimony thus acquires a broader dimension, giving the filmmaker the opportunity to express her belief that a person never stops searching for life’s purpose.