THE ASTHENIC SYNDROME
Homage
After the death of her husband, a woman loses her footing. Asthenia is the name given to this abrupt draining of strength. It then emerges that the black-and-white footage is a film within a film. When the curtain falls, the actress comes out to meet the audience that leaves the theatre as one. Only one viewer stays: the teacher Nikolai, who has fallen fast asleep. Shades of Bunuel: one dream merges into the next, one asthenia blends with the other. Death too is a dream and redemption from a total lack of communication. At the end, Nikolai is unable to wake up. His unconscious body is swallowed up by the darkness, by the metro tunnel, by the void.
ASTENIČESKIJ SINDROM / DAS ASTHENISCHE SYNDROM
UaSSR 1989 / 153 min
Director: Kira Muratova
- Screenplay: Sergej Popov,Aleksandr Černych,Kira Muratova
- Cinematographer: Vladimir Pankov
- Cast: Olga Antonova,Sergej Popov,Natalja Budko
- Production Company: Dovženko Studio - Kiew
- Rights Holder: National Centre Olexander Dovženko - Kiew
After the death of her husband, a woman loses her footing. Asthenia is the name given to this abrupt draining of strength. It then emerges that the black-and-white footage is a film within a film. When the curtain falls, the actress comes out to meet the audience that leaves the theatre as one. Only one viewer stays: the teacher Nikolai, who has fallen fast asleep. Shades of Bunuel: one dream merges into the next, one asthenia blends with the other. Death too is a dream and redemption from a total lack of communication. At the end, Nikolai is unable to wake up. His unconscious body is swallowed up by the darkness, by the metro tunnel, by the void.
- Screenplay: Sergej Popov,Aleksandr Černych,Kira Muratova
- Cinematographer: Vladimir Pankov
- Cast: Olga Antonova,Sergej Popov,Natalja Budko
- Production Company: Dovženko Studio - Kiew
- Rights Holder: National Centre Olexander Dovženko - Kiew