Koktebel (12A)

Director: Boris Khlebnikov & Alexei Popogrebsky
Starring: Gleb Puskepalis, Igor Chernevich, Vera Sandrykina
Russia, 2003, 1 hour 45 minutes, subtitles

If you enjoyed The Return (one of the very best films from last year that is screening at Garway & Much Wenlock) don’t miss this mysterious road movie that is in some ways even better. At first sight they appear very similar with their wry melancholic tone and their exploration of a fragile relationship between father and son as they travel through the Russian countryside, but the mood of Koktebel is more like that of a Russian fairytale than pitiless Greek myth. The pair tramp south relying on generous strangers and odd jobs for food. They end up roofing for an alcoholic hermit and then the father falls under the spell of a kindly doctor, but the boy is determined to finish their journey to the sea. Beautifully scripted, full of unusual imagery and quiet observation of looks and gestures evoking the character’s hopes and dreams in a way that is genuinely poetic. Thoughtful, tender and often humorous, framed by haunting music, this is a magnificent achievement.

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