ME TOO

IN MEMORIAM ALEKSEY BALABANOV
Aleksey Balabanov, one of the most wayward and controversial Russian directors of the post-Soviet era, died aged 54 in May 2013. After initially establishing his filmmaking reputation with literary adaptations, he went on to make his most successful films BRAT / BROTHER (1997) und BRAT 2 / BROTHER 2 (2000), which have both attained cult status. Three of Balabanov’s films competed at goEast – GRUZ 200 / CARGO 200 (2007), MORFIY / MORPHINE (2008) and KOCHEGAR / THE STOKER (2010) – and earned him several awards. His short filmmaking career is exemplary of a paradox peculiar to only the truly great directors: without ever drifting into the mainstream, Balabanov consistently made popular yet non-conformist films in accordance with his own taste. In memory of Aleksey Balabanov goEast is screening A TOZHE KHOCHU / ME TOO (2012), which was the director’s last film. A gangster, a musician, an alcoholic, the latter’s father, and a prostitute travel together to an abandoned bell tower, all of them in pursuit of happiness. Balabanov turns this dark pilgrims’ tale into an entertaining travelogue underscored by plentiful quantities of cool music, vodka and self-irony. The director himself appears in a cameo role as yet another seeker of happiness. His last words are addressed to the audience but are equally a cry to the heavens: Me too!