The Postman's White Nights
| The Postman's White Nights | |
|---|---|
 Film poster | |
| Directed by | Andrei Konchalovsky |
| Written by |
Andrei Konchalovsky Elena Kiseleva |
| Starring | Aleksey Tryapitsyn |
| Cinematography | Aleksandr Simonov |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 90 minutes |
| Country | Russia |
| Language | Russian |
| Budget | $1.5 million[1] |
The Postman's White Nights (Russian: Белые ночи почтальона Алексея Тряпицына; Belye nochi pochtalona Alekseya Tryapitsyna) is a 2014 Russian drama film directed by Andrei Konchalovsky. It tells the story of the people of a remote Russian village, whose main contact with the outside world is a postman. All actors in the film are non-professionals and casting took a year.
It was selected for the In Competition section at the 71st Venice International Film Festival[2][3] and won the Silver Lion.[4] In September 2014, director Konchalovsky withdrew the film from the list of films being considered for the Russian entry for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.[5]
Cast
- Timur Bondarenko as Timur, Irina's son
- Irina Ermolova as Irina
- Aleksey Tryapitsyn as Postman
Reception
The film was reviewed by Variety magazine, which said that likable protagonists and some stunning shots do not cover its weak spots.[6] The film also got 83% on Metacritic[7] and on Cine Vue who gave him four stars.[8]
- The Hollywood reporter:
"The setting itself is gorgeous, with its boxy cottages fringed by grassy clearings and woodlands, and the placid surface of the water stretching on for miles. It’s a rare pleasure to see a film made with such an elegant compositional eye... Deep-focus shots of Lyokha at his most pensive, standing on the shores of the lake, are loaded with a sense of place, and of belonging. The same goes for the hypnotic Steadycam sequences of him zooming along in his boat, the sound of the motor quietly giving way to a slow build of electronica composer Eduard Artemyev’s stirring ambient score with choral elements."[9]
- Indiewire.com:
“The Postman’s White Nights” is being widely celebrated as a quasi-documentary, marked by a droll sense of humor that illuminates life in a forgotten corner of the world. And it is that, no doubt, but for us it went much further than mere anthropological interest. If it presents an accurate picture of this reality, then it feels like it’s a reality that is unstable, so far cut off from the mainstream of life that it has begun to fray into the surreal and the magic at the edges."[10]
References
- ↑ """Почта России" вошла в образ - ФГУП инвестирует в фильм Андрея Кончаловского"". Kommersant. 18 March 2014. Archived from the original on 7 September 2014. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
- ↑ "International competition of feature films". Venice. Archived from the original on 26 July 2014. Retrieved 24 July 2014.
- ↑ Nancy Tartaglione (24 July 2014). "Venice Film Festival Lineup Announced". Deadline.com. Archived from the original on 28 July 2014. Retrieved 24 July 2014.
- ↑ "Roy Andersson film scoops Venice Golden Lion award". BBC News. 6 September 2014. Archived from the original on 7 September 2014. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
- ↑ "Russian Venice Winner Pulls Film From Foreign-Language Oscar Consideration". The Hollywood Reporter. 26 September 2014. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
- ↑ Jay Weissberg (5 September 2014). "Venice Film Review: 'The Postman's White Nights'". Variety. Archived from the original on 16 September 2014. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
- ↑ "The Postman's White Nights". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 8 December 2014. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
- ↑ "Venice 2014: 'The Postman's White Nights'". Cine Vue. 6 September 2014. Archived from the original on 9 September 2014. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
- ↑ "'The Postman's White Nights' ('Belye nochi pochtalona Alekseya Tryapitsyna'): Venice Review". Retrieved 8 July 2016.
- ↑ Kiang, Jessica (2014-09-06). "Venice Review: Andrei Konchalovsky's Uncanny, Amazing 'The Postman's White Nights'". Retrieved 8 July 2016.