“Good Year” in Russian – Year of the Calf What do the main characters of the film have in common? Feodosii (the character of Menshov) a simple at first glance a village carpenter, Valerian Sergeevich (the character of Gaft) is a typical citizen-intellectual, and even playing the violin.
However, they have a lot in common: both are alone in their own family and are not understood by others.
Their married couples are experiencing a conflict of relations: the wife Feodosia suddenly woke up craving for culture (in the sense of culture that is possible in the former milkmaid) and she began to be endlessly irritated by the pastoral-contemplative existence of her husband, more than anything in the world concerned with the search for a cow that has settled in the forest; soft Valerian Sergeevich instead of peace of mind is forced to satisfy the constantly growing material demands of his oppressive wife.
By chance, Feodosii and Valerian Sergeevich meet together: sent by his wife to get another set, he turns out to be in a furniture selpo, in which his wife Feodosiya now works. She, being fascinated by the intelligence of Valerian Sergeyevich, offers him to teach her children music. Thus, Valerian Sergeyevich gets into their house.
Instantly recognizing a kindred soul in a random familiar, getting acquainted and imbued with mutual sympathy, the characters begin to gradually complement and enrich each other’s characters. Valerian Sergeyevich, who escaped to nature from under his wife’s power, can finally breathe full of clean village air, and Feodosia now has someone to share his feelings about his newborn calf hidden somewhere in the forest by a cunning cow.
The wife Theodosius, seeing that her husband, who does not want to “cultivate himself”, received unexpected support, launches heavy artillery - sets fire to his favorite bath.
Having taken the sons of Theodosius and the violin of Valerian Sergeyevich, the men go to the forest. (And where else did real men go from time immemorial?) The pictures of their joint robinsonade are the best moments of the film. And even if it did not last long - clearly not a year - I hope that this "time of the calf" will forever change them and will forever remain in their memory.
All acting work, including secondary characters, is performed flawlessly. Externally brutal Gaft perfectly managed to convey the softness and inner vulnerability of his character. As always very organic and convincing Durov in the village image and as always very bright E. Vasilyev. A short, but expressive episode with E. Vesnik generally forces a slightly different look at the problem of family relationships raised in the film and the possibility of compromise.
The overall impression of the film is ambivalent: on the one hand, the frank farce of most characters, their actions and situations, on the other hand, at times the main musical theme in combination with the Central Russian landscape creates a feeling of almost tragic and (I will not fear this word) existential hopelessness. Part of the late Soviet reality reflected in the film is now naturally perceived as an anachronism, but the general intensity of conflicts has not decreased over time.
Like a Tragifarce with elements of almost gone village life
10 out of 10