Cinema
Flights in Dreams and Reality
Польоти уві сні та наяву
Roman Balayan · 1983
Synopsis
Serhii Makarov, married to Natasha and father of little Masha, works without zeal in the provincial architecture office run by his friend Nikolai. He is about to turn forty and has done none of what is expected at that age. During the three days before his birthday, among his wife, a young mistress and former comrades, he piles up pranks and provocations, to the point of being taken for a buffoon; at night, he flies in his dreams.
Context
Viktor Merezhko's screenplay was submitted to the Dovzhenko studio in October 1980; Balayan chose Oleg Yankovsky for the lead role after seeing him in a television film. Photographed by Vilen Kaluta to music by Vadym Khrapachov, the film was produced in 1981 and 1982, with exteriors shot in Vladimir, and was released on 17 January 1983 in restricted distribution; it was widely seen only under perestroika. Lyudmila Gurchenko, Oleg Tabakov and Oleg Menshikov surround him, and Nikita Mikhalkov makes an appearance in it. In the year of its release, Yankovsky was filming in Italy with Tarkovsky.
Who it is for
Barely an hour and a half, the story resting on the conduct of a single man; audiences at the time saw in it a critique of Brezhnev-era stagnation.
Prizes and reception
USSR State Prize in 1987 for Balayan and Yankovsky; seventh of the hundred best films of Ukrainian cinema (Dovzhenko Centre, 2021).
Sources for this page 12
The pages consulted to check this page.