KIRA MURATOVA: ETERNAL HOMECOMING

Born 1934 in Soroca, Romania (now Moldova), Kira Muratova has made most of her films at the famous Odessa Film Studio.

She was largely unknown outside the Soviet Union until 1987 when, with the advent of glasnost, her films were taken off the censors’ shelves and internationally recognised at film festivals. Idiosyncratic and totally independent, Muratova’s unique vision has remained uncompromised, while influential critic Jonathan Rosenbaum has described her as “the greatest living Russian filmmaker”. Neither seeking political interpretations or moralising, Muratova presents an uncensored, often nihilistic vision of everyday life complete with all its ugliness and cruelty. Breaking away from cinematic conventions, and using experimental techniques such as punctuating fragmented storylines with absurdism, nonsensical behaviour and bizarre montages, Muratova doesn’t allow her audiences to be passive viewers and often assaults them with manically repeated dialogue or sudden shifts in editing, leaving them as lost as the characters onscreen. Her films focus on strong female characters deconstructing gender roles and relations in a society in moral decay.

This screening expands on our 2015 Muratova retrospective, presenting her most recent film.

7:00 – ETERNAL HOMECOMING
Kira Muratova (2012) 114 mins
Unclassified 15+ Unless accompanied by an adult

In her latest film, made at the age of 78, Muratova brings together her favourite actors – from stars of Russian cinema to amateur actors who had worked with her previously – to act in a film about… casting. But this is no ordinary film about acting, as the director employs a variety of cinematic devices to play with – even trick – her audience. Through her much-loved use of the refrain and repetition, Muratova proves she continues to be fascinated with the aesthetic possibilities of the cinema.