Russian director Vladimir Kott attempted the seemingly impossible. Depicting ‘Russian soul’. A Dutch documentary maker went on an extensive trip to Russia to find an answer to the question what Russian soul actually means. In a journey that took him from Moscow to Vladivostok, he wasn’t able to find a conclusive answer. Russians even tend to say that you can’t understand Russian soul by reason.
‘You can only approach and sense our soul’ Kott tells me when I bring this up in the lobby of the Pathé theatre in Rotterdam. This particular soul comes in many different forms and shapes. Dostoyevski describes one, but Kott was inspired by another great Russian version, Checkov’s.
The film is loosely based on ‘Three Sisters’ by the famous playwright. A play about unhappy sisters desperate for a different life. Gromozeka revolves around three childhood friends who once formed a band as young boys but lost track of each other leading melancholy lives as adults. ‘My characters, like Checkov’s sisters, want to lead another life but are overcome by a form of fatalism and do nothing to obtain that other existence, just like in the play’, said Kott.
The paths of a clumsy policeman, a cabdriver torn apart by family circumstances and a terminally ill surgeon are crossed in a mosaic-like structure. The tragedies befalling them are wrapped in intelligent comedy and the touching fashion in which they try to survive in the harsh concrete jungle of Moscow makes them endearing characters. As if the audience is the fourth friend who left the stage a long time ago looking on.
In relation to the other Tiger nominees the film is rather conventional in its storyline, camera, art direction and acting. It‘s safe to say that the movie is the odd man out considering this year’s selection. Most Tiger projects tend to lean on an experimental approach to cinema whereas this film contains a highly accessibility. Therefore Kott is very pleased that his picture was selected by the International Film Festival Rotterdam to make its world premiere. On questioning him about how he feels the festival audience has responded to his work he reacts positive. ‘The screenings were all early in the morning and each time I was surprised to see very few empty seats. When people left the theatre I saw they were touched and that’s the greatest compliment for me as a director’
The story is touching, aimed to mind and soul. ‘Indeed, my film is different from the others in competition, mind you, there is nothing wrong with cinema appealing more to intellect, but I wanted my film to honor the traditional Russian cinema in which emotions are targeted as well. I think one doesn’t necessarily exclude the other. I like to think my movie reaches a balance. I want my audience to think and feel simultaneously.’
Gromozeka is a famous clumsy Russian cartoon character shown in a short clip, who always arrives late to save the day thus explaining the title. The three men are a mixture of Checkov’s sisters and this cartoon character. Clumsy, tormented and desperate. Gromozeka is to be considered as one of the years best Tigers, even though the jury begs to differ.
During a question and answer session someone from the audience asked the inevitable question ‘What defines Russian soul exactly?’ An extremely serious Kott replied ‘Russian soul is gloomy and moody, while the world’s soul is bright and cheerful.’ But then again Kott’s outlook on the Russian soul is contradictory to what he shows the audience. Gromozeka is not gloomy or moody. It is heartwarming.