Cinema
Adonis XIV
Адонис XIV
Bako Sadykov · 1986
Synopsis
A billy goat, Adonis XIV, has the task of leading the other animals to the slaughterhouse. The fourteenth to bear this name, he is destined for the same fate as his predecessors, whose names appear on a plaque. Without a word, the film starts from mountain landscapes and a waterfall, follows the flocks at pasture, then into a city street, behind the goat who shows them the way.
Context
The short film, of about ten minutes, in black and white and without dialogue, was made as a graduation project at the Higher Courses for Scriptwriters and Directors in Moscow. Its symbolism, judged too direct, led to its being banned for years. The state archives date it to 1986, the Arsenal in Berlin to 1977; it came to light thanks to glasnost, and the Arsenal holds two 35 mm prints of it.
Who it is for
For those who like silent fables and films long kept out of view by Soviet censorship.
Prizes and reception
Noticed at the Mannheim festival in 1986, it was the following year the great surprise of the Odense festival in Denmark.
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