ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE PROVINCES

The provincial setting of this prizewinning film is a mud-splattered piece of ground between decrepit industrial plants and prefab housing blocks. This is where the beautiful Nastia arrives at her sister’s house, seeking refuge from her problems. Her sister is hardly delighted by the unexpected visit: she has enough on her plate with a husband seriously ill since his return from the Chechen war, and now prone to rages and violence. All the same, clever and collected young Nastia apparently finds her own personal happiness in the midst of a community of young people living by their own social codex governed by alcohol and violence, camaraderie, loyalty and passion. But then she too is sucked into the downward spiral that has long taken hold of everyone around her. An intensive drama, unsparing in its depiction of Russia’s lost generation.