East of the West 2002 / Jechali dva šofjora / Russia 2001
This love story steeped in the inimitable atmosphere of the late forties takes place deep in the Russian interior. The protagonists are two drivers: the irrepressibly energetic Kolka and irresolute Raya – or perhaps two vehicles: an old AMO truck and a modern Ford. The doubtful mechanical condition of the vehicles in the harsh terrain doesn’t preclude a happy end.
A love story inspired by the popular driving song about a particular highway “where the one road is narrow and every driver seeks to harrow.” In the late 1940s an energetic and obliging driver named Kolka appears with his dear old AMO truck, as if out of this mythical distant world, and moves to the Russian interior. Soon enough, his unattached heart is broken by the emancipated Raya who has just been assigned a modern Ford. Travelling along muddy trails demands not only steady nerves but also professional solidarity. Kolka’s courting aims are threatened by a dashing pilot who delivers mail throughout the region and is teaching Raya to fly. As a result, the disappointed Kolka takes off and finds a job at an ironworks. But upon spotting Raya’s Ford he wrests the wheel of his old standby away from the new driver, and his and Raya’s subsequent travels on and off the road become a declaration of love. One of the film’s most important elements is the depiction of the inimitable post-war environment, whose material poverty is offset by heady happiness over the recent war victory and by seemingly selfless “socialist building” enthusiasm: a well-fed faith in a better tomorrow.
78 min / Black & white, 35 mm
Director Alexander Kott
/ Screenplay Alexander Kott, Fedor Letunovskij/ Fedor Letunovski, Jurij Korotkov/Yuri Korotkov, Marina Drozdova
/ Dir. of Photography Pjotr Duchovskoj/Pyotr Dukhovskoy
/ Music Gennadij Trofimov/Gennadi Trofimov
/ Editor Natalia Sažina/Natalia Sazhina, Marina Glotova
/ Producer Sergej Seljanov/Sergey Selyanov
/ Production CTB Film Company
/ Cast Pavel Děrevjanko/Pavel Derevyanko, Irina Rachmanova/Irina Rakhmanova, Valerij Ivakov/Valeri Ivakov, Vladimir Romanovski, Valerij Veličko/Valeri Velichko, Naděžda Ozerova/Nadezhda Ozerova, Julia Butakova/Yulia Butakova
Alexander Kott (b. 1973) graduated in direction from Moscow’s VGIK film school (1999) and trained in Cracow under Andrzej Wajda (1997). His student films won a number of prestigious awards at home and abroad. Short film filmography: Photographer (Fotograf, 1997), Alyonushka (1997), A Journey (Putyeshestviye, 1997), Rope (Veryovka, 1998, video), and is his feature film debut.
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