FILM: BEANPOLE

Dylda (original title) / 2019 / war, drama / 1h 10min / directed by Kantemir Balagov / country: Russia / language: Russian / subtitles: English

“ . . . Beanpole is a curious, demented, and attentive film. It takes the kind of narrative and artistic risks uncommon amongst World War II dramas, and in the process, develops a both moral and radical vision of what healing means when you’ve truly suffered. It also makes decisive omissions—you’re not allowed deep into the psyches of the film’s protagonists, nor are you given clear explanations for their actions or situations. It’s an elliptical choice that often fails in films that depend on psychology, but ultimately struck me as an incredible refusal. Beanpole is not a film about interpretation or understanding, but survival.” –Cassie Da Costa, The Daily Beast

In post-WWII Leningrad, two women, Iya and Masha (astonishing newcomers Viktoria Miroshnichenko and Vasilisa Perelygina), intensely bonded after fighting side by side as anti-aircraft gunners, attempt to readjust to a haunted world. As the film begins, Iya, long and slender and towering over everyone—hence the film’s title—works as a nurse in a shell-shocked hospital, presiding over traumatized soldiers. A shocking accident brings them closer and also seals their fates. The 28-year-old Russian director Kantemir Balagov won Un Certain Regard’s Best Director prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival for this richly burnished, occasionally harrowing rendering of the persistent scars of war. (source)