Movies

SYNOPSIS

Separated from the outside world with only a boat to connect their remote village to the mainland, the inhabitants of Lake Kenozero live the way their ancestors did for centuries gone by: the community is small, everyone knows each other and they produce only those things which are necessary for survival. The village postman, Aleksey Tryapitsyn, is their sole connection to the outside world, relying on his motorboat to bridge the two civilizations. But when his boat’s motor gets stolen and the woman he loves escapes to the city, the postman follows, desperate for a new adventure and a new life. What follows is a journey of self-discovery, as the postman is confronted with old demons, love and a revelation that there is no place like home.

Andrei Konchalovsky

Andrei Konchalovsky is a Russian film and theatre director and screenwriter. Growing up, he was trained as a concert pianist. He co-wrote several movie screenplays with Andrei Tarkovsky during their studies at the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography. Their cooperation resulted in a featurette, Steamroller and the Violin (1961), and Ivan’s Childhood (1962), a feature in which Konchalovsky also played a small role. Later, the two collaborated on the screenplay for Andrei Rublev (1966). In the meantime, Konchalovsky directed his first film, First Teacher (1965), based on the prose by Chynghyz Aitmatov. His next film, The Story of Asya Klyachina (1967), was for the first time widely distributed only 20 years after it had been produced. Following an adaptation of Uncle Vanya (1971), Konchalovsky directed A Lover’s Romance (1974) in which characters speak mostly in free verse. He was awarded the Grand Prize of the Jury at the 1979 Cannes Film Festival for the four-part Siberiade, portraying three generations a Russian family living in a village. In 1972, he won the Kazakhstan State Award for the screenplay of The End of The Ataman. He also won the Russian People’s Artist Award in 1980. In the same year, he went to Hollywood. In the movie Maria’s Lovers (1984), he sets Andrei Platonov’s novel in a Serb community in a small town in Pennsylvania. His movie, Runaway Train (1985), was based on the screenplay by Akira Kurosawa. In the US, Konchalovsky also directed television and won a Prime-Time Emmy for his mini-series, The Odyssey. Since 1994, he has directed movies on both sides of what once was the Iron Curtain. Andrei Konchalovsky also directs drama classics and operas in theater. His newest film, The Postman’s White Nights, won the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival.

Filmography

2014       Belye nochi pochtalona Alekseya Tryapitsyna / Postman's White Nights, The

2009       Nutcracker, The

2007       Gloss

2002       Dom durakov / House of Fools

1994       Kurochka Ryaba

1991       Inner Circle, The

1989       Tango & Cash

1989       Homer and Eddie

1987       Shy People

1986       Duet for One

1985       Runaway Train

1984       Maria's Lovers

1979       Sibiriada / Siberiade

1974       Romans o vlyublyonnykh

1971       Dyadya Vanya / Uncle Vanya

1969       Dvoryanskoe gnezdo / Nest of Gentry, A

1966       Istoriya Asi Klyachinoy, kotoraya lyubila, da ne vyshla zamuzh / The Story of Asya Klyachina

1965       Pervyy uchitel

1961       Malchik i golub

Festivals

2014       Venice, Kustendorf

Awards

2014       Venice - Silver Lion- Best Director (Andrey Konchalovskiy), Green Drop Award

Shot through with quiet lyricism, and scored by a mix of choral, orchestral and ambient music that weaves in and out of the crisply-rendered sounds of the natural world, Konchalovsky has gone back to the artisanal roots of cinema and drama to make a film of undeniable charm.

Lee Marshall, ScreenDaily