Kiemas
The Courtyard · 2000
90 min · Drama · Lithuanian · Lithuania, France
Credits
- Director
- Valdas Navasaitis
- Screenwriter
- Valdas Navasaitis
- Producer
- Uljana Kim
- Cinematographer
- Rimvydas Leipus
- Production designer
- Jurij Grigorovič
- Editor
- Mingailė Murmulaitienė
Produced by
- Studio Uljana KimProduction
- Les Films de L'ObservatoireFrance · Production
- ARTE France CinémaFrance · Production
Synopsis
The first feature of Lithuanian Valdas Navasaitis is a drama which unravels the hopeless 1970s, when people were deprived of their roots and forced to sit and watch their lives slip from their fingers. In a decrepit house that once belonged to a bourgeois family, several families seek shelter. Senis, a 65-year-old alcoholic, lives on the ground floor with his wife and their 16-year-old daughter. Senis is a survivor of the Nazis as well as the communist camps. He drowns the pain of his memories in a nearby pub and in talking to a depressed young laborer, Lorenca. Later on, a young couple and a lonely eccentric who enjoys only his cat's company join the inhabitants. Children wile away the time with useless games or spying on adults. When Lorenca hangs himself at the ruins of a nearby factory, the lives are shaken up. During the dinner held for the deceased, they find a moment of common hope.
Timeline
- 20 May 1999Premiere, Cannes Film Festival
- 8 March 2000Opened in cinemas
Spoken languages: Lithuanian, Russian
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