Aleksey BALABANOV
Алексей БАЛАБАНОВ
Alekseï BALABANOV
Russia, 2008, 107mn 
Colour, fiction
Morfiy
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Морфий

 

 Morphia

 Morphine

 
Directed by : Aleksey BALABANOV (Алексей БАЛАБАНОВ)
Writing credits : Sergey BODROV (jr.) (Сергей БОДРОВ (мл.))
Based on Michail Bulgakov's autobiographical stories, A Country Doctor's Notebook
 
Cast
Leonid BITSHEVINE (Леонид БИЧЕВИН) ...Mikhail Poliakov
Ingeborga DAPKUNAITE (Ингеборга ДАПКУНАЙТЕ) ...Anna Nikolaevna
Sergey GARMASH (Сергей ГАРМАШ) ...Soborevski
Aleksandr MOSIN (Александр МОСИН)
Andrey PANIN (Андрей ПАНИН) ...Demianenko, l'infirmier
Katarina RADIVOZHEVICH (Катарина РАДИВОЖЕВИЧ) ...Ekaterina Sheffer
 
Cinematography : Aleksandr SIMONOV (Александр СИМОНОВ)
Production design : Anastasia KARIMULINA (Анастасия КАРИМУЛИНА), Pavel PARKHOMENKO (Павел ПАРХОМЕНКО)
Sound : Mikhail NIKOLAEV (Михаил НИКОЛАЕВ)
Produced by : Sergey SELIANOV (Сергей СЕЛЬЯНОВ)
Companies : CTB
Film revenue in Russia : 0.766 million dollars
 
format : 35 mm
Sites : IMDb, Chapaev.media

Awards :
Special Prize Festival of Central and Eastern Film , Wiesbaden (Germany), 2009
Best directing Award "White Elephant", Moscow (Russia), 2009

Plot synopsis
Morphia is based on a script by Sergei Bodrov jr. - a cult figure for Russian youth and famous as an excellent actor, director and writer, who tragically passed away a few years ago. He adapted Michail Bulgakov's autobiographical stories, A Country Doctor's Notebook<...>. In late autumn of 1917, a young doctor arrives in the Russian countryside in the middle of nowhere. Doctor Polyakov (Leonid Bichevin) comes here from the capital during a very turbulent period (the 1917 revolution). The very first night, he is submitted to the first real test of his professionalism but fails to save a man's life. To get over this first real-life experience and to protect his own health, the doctor prescribes himself a dose of morphine. More soon follow, as he performs his first amputation, trachometry etc. What was meant as first-aid relief for difficult situations soon becomes an addiction, and the pharmacy assistant, his lover and even a companion-in-crime (Ingeborga Dapkunaite) help him all along the way. As in Cargo 200, the decay of the body, the personality, social relations and the country are motifs running through the story. The re-creation of the past, and the film's unforgettable art direction, together with its division into chapters, reminds us of Of Freaks and Men and make the film as a whole yet another masterpiece by one of Russia's most important contemporary film makers (LC)
Source : www.filmfestivalrotterdam.com, 2009
 

commentaries
Контрольный выстрел. Морфий в контексте творчества А. Балабанова [Tir de contrôle. Morphine dans le contexte des travaux de A. Balabanov], Daniil DONDUREY, kinoart.ru, 2024
Morphine (2008) de Alexeï Balabanov, Julien MORVAN, Perestroikino, 2020
Aleksei Balabanov : Morphia , Otto BOELE, kinokultura.com, 2009
Aleksei Balabanov : Morphia (Morfii, 2008) (2), Masha SALAZKINA, kinokultura.com, 2009
Прорва. Образ пространства в современной кинодраматургии, Yelena GRACHEVA, seance.ru, 2009
Festival international du film de Rotterdam 2009. Le 7ème art russe : Un retour au premier plan, http://www.jetsetmagazine.net, 2009
L’année de la crise : un regard sur le cinéma russe 2008-2009, Yelena KVASOVA-DUFFORT, kinoglaz.fr, 2009
Груз 300 [О фильме Морфий Алексея Балабанова], Andrey PLAKHOV, seance.ru, 2008
Сергей Бодров «Связной», Sergey BODROV (jr.), Сеанс, 2007
 

Selected in the following festivals or events :
- Russian Film Festival For Another Russia, Paris (France), 2021
- Europe around Europe, Paris (France), 2014
- Moscow International Film Festival (MIFF), Moscow (Russia), 2013
- Sputnik nad Polska, Warsaw (Poland), 2012
- Sofia International Film Festival, Sofia (Bulgaria), 2011
- Sputnik nad Polska, Warsaw (Poland), 2011
- Europe around Europe, Paris (France), 2010
- Tbilisi International Film Festival, Tbilisi (Georgia), 2010
- The Dublin International Film Festival, Dublin (Ireland), 2010
- Mostra Internazionale del Nuovo Cinema, Pesaro (Italy), 2010
- Belgrade International Film Festival, Belgrade (Serbia), 2010
- Russian Resurrection Film Festival, Different cities (Australia), 2009
- Melbourne International Film Festival - MIFF, Melbourne (Australia), 2009
- Brussels European Film Festival : FFFB, Brussels (Belgium), 2009
- Sarajevo Film Festival, Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina), 2009
- KinoArt Film Festival, Toronto (Canada), 2009
- Vancouver International Film Festival, Vancouver (Canada), 2009
- World Film Festival, Montreal (Canada), 2009
- Copenhagen International Film Festival / CPH PIX, Copenhagen (Denmark), 2009
- Helsinki International Film Festival, Helsinki (Finland), 2009
- Festival of Central and Eastern Film , Wiesbaden (Germany), 2009
- Rotterdam International Film Festival, Rotterdam (Netherlands), 2009
- New Zealand International Film Festival, Auckland (New Zealand), 2009
- Sputnik nad Polska, Warsaw (Poland), 2009
- Award "White Elephant", Moscow (Russia), 2009
- Festival ''Cinema and literature'', Gatchina (Russia), 2009
- Award "White Elephant", Moscow (Russia), 2009
- Ljubljana International Film Festival, Ljubljana (Slovenia), 2009
- Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantàstic de Catalunya, Sitges (Spain), 2009
- The Times BFI London Film Festival, London (United Kingdom), 2009
- Russian film symposium. University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh (USA), 2009
- "NIKA" Prizes, Moscow (Russia), 2008

Images