Alexander Yatsenko Movies
- 2006
Russian writer/director Boris Khlebnikov crafts his film Free Floating (aka Svobodnoye Plavanie) in the vein of such Northern European filmmakers as Bent Hamer and Aki Kaurismäki, known for their offhanded, slight, and quirky "minimalist" character comedies such as The Man Without a Past, Lights in the Dusk, and Kitchen Stories. Floating concerns Leonid (Alexander Yatsenko), a factory worker in a hamlet on the Volga River, who gets laid off when the Americans arrive and take over his company. He then drifts aimlessly from one job to another, from road repairman to market-based shoe salesman to plasterer. In time, Leonid meets a female schoolmate, and though their exchanges begin acerbically (laden with insult-swapping), the encounter eventually reveals a softer side.Khlebnikov's focus here is not on story, but on developing and heightening a sense of utter absurdity, drawing the film's flyspecks of humor from the utterly banal, such as a woman's method of peeling a boiled egg and the sound of a door creaking. Daria Ekamasova and Yevgeni Sytyi co-star. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alexander Yatsenko, Daria Ekamasova, (more)
- 2003
They say clothes make the man, but three young men discover that isn't as true as they might hope in this bittersweet comedy drama. Peaky (Alexander Yatsenko), Dumbo (Ivan Kokorin), and Geka (Artur Povolotsky) are three teenagers who've come of age in a small town on the shores of the Black Sea dominated by merchant shipping. In a village with little in the way of glamour and excitement, a symbol of both hangs in the window of a local clothing shop -- a brand new Gucci suit, which all three boys wish was theirs. Even though Peaky, Dumbo, and Geka are all short on money, they're long on resourcefulness, and after a few less-than-legal money-making schemes, the guys are able to pool enough money to collectively buy the suit. All three are given a boost of confidence by their new threads, but they also find that confidence doesn't help make things go your way, as Peaky and Geka both try to persuade their long-estranged parents to reunite, and Dumbo attempts to persuade his girlfriend that he'll do nearly anything to hold on to her. Shik was screened as part of the "Panorama" series at the 2003 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alexander Yatsenko, Artur Povolotsky, (more)
