Aleksey BALABANOV Алексей БАЛАБАНОВ Alekseï BALABANOV   Russia, 2008   Colour, fiction

Morphia ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ Морфий    Morphine  Morfiy

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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

 

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Commentaries and bibliography

Aleksei Balabanov : Morphia , Otto BOELE, kinokultura.com, 2009

Aleksei Balabanov : Morphia (Morfii, 2008) (2), Masha SALAZKINA, kinokultura.com, 2009

 

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Selected in the following festivals :

- 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

- Film festival of Russia and CIS countries, 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, 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

- Annual award of the Guild of Historians of Cinema and Film Critics, Moscow (Russia), 2009

- Festival ''Cinema and literature'', Gatchina (Russia), 2009

- Annual award of the Guild of Historians of Cinema and Film Critics, 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

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