My Joy

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My Joy

Film poster
Directed by Sergei Loznitsa
Produced by Oleh Kokhan
Written by Sergei Loznitsa
Starring Viktor Nemets
Cinematography Oleg Mutu
Editing by Danielius Kokanauskis
Release dates
  • 19 May 2010 (2010-05-19) (Cannes)
Running time 127 minutes
Country Ukraine
Language Russian
Budget € 1.5 million

My Joy (Russian: Счастье моё, translit. Schastye moyo; Ukrainian: Щастя моє, translit. Shchastya moye) is a 2010 Ukrainian road movie directed by Sergei Loznitsa. It is set in the western regions of Russia, somewhere near Smolensk. My Joy was the first Ukrainian film ever to compete for the Palme d'Or.

Cast

  • Viktor Nemets as Georgy
  • Olga Shuvalova as teenage prostitute
  • Vlad Ivanov as Major from Moscow
  • Dmitri Gotsdiner as train station Superintendent

Production

The film was a co-production between Germany's Ma.ja.de, Ukraine's Sota Cinema Group and the Netherlands' Lemming Film.[1] The film was shot in Ukraine as a condition for receiving money from the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture, but most of the 1.5 million Euro budget came from Germany. According to the director there are about 140 cuts in the whole film. Vlad Ivanov's Russian was dubbed as he is a Romanian actor.[2]

Reviews

There was a considerable outcry in Russian media over the film's purported Russophobic slant. Film director Karen Shakhnazarov claimed that Loznitsa would like everyone living in Russia to be shot.[3] But another Russian film director, Andrey Zvyagintsev, called My Joy the best Russian-language film of the decade.[4]

The film received universal acclaim from film critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 93% of professional critics gave the film a positive review.[5] Among American reviewers, Manohla Dargis (The New York Times) referred to the movie as "suspenseful, mysterious, at times bitterly funny, consistently moving and filled with images of a Russia haunted both by ghosts and the living dead".[6] A blurb in Sight & Sound advertises My Joy as "Ukraine’s answer to Deliverance".[7] Village Voice (Michael Atkinson) reviewed My Joy as "a maddening vision and one of the year's must-see provocations.[8]

Awards and nominations

The film was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival in May.[1] At the 7th Yerevan Golden Apricot International Film Festival in July, the film won the Silver Apricot Special Prize.[9]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Schastye Moe (My Joy)". festival-cannes.com. Cannes Film Festival. Retrieved 2010-05-14. 
  2. ↑ Galetski, Kirill (2010-05-17). "Q&A: Sergei Loznitsa". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2010-05-17. 
  3. ↑ "Счастье мое, я твой хаос". gazeta.ru. Retrieved 2011-11-09. 
  4. ↑ "Кино по пятницам, эфир 10 декабря". moskva.fm. Retrieved 2011-11-09. 
  5. ↑ My Joy. Rotten Tomatoes. Flixter. Retrieved 27 August 2012.
  6. ↑ "A Tale of Russia Haunted by Ghosts and the Living Dead". NY Times. Retrieved 2011-11-09. 
  7. ↑ "Sight & Sound: July 2010". sightandsound. Retrieved 2011-11-09. 
  8. ↑ "A Trucker's Bizarre Drive, Chaos at Every Turn, in My Joy". villagevoice.com. Retrieved 2011-11-09. 
  9. ↑ "Golden Apricot International Film Festival". gaiff.am. Retrieved 2011-01-01. 

External links

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