''Garpastum'' (russian: Гарпастум) is a 2005 Russian
historical drama film
A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past time period, usually used in the context of film and television. Historical drama includes historical fiction and romances, adventure films, and sw ...
written and directed by
Aleksei German Jr. It was entered into the main competition at the
62nd edition of the
Venice Film Festival
The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival h ...
.
Plot
The film begins in 1914 on the eve of the outbreak of
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
set during
Gavrilo Princip's departure before the
assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria.
The main events unfold in
St. Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
with the story being centered around two brothers, Andrei and Nikolai. In the past, their father was either a sports patron or just interested in football. He put all his money on the Russian football team which lost to the Germans
in Stockholm in 1912 with a crushing score of 0:16. He went broke and became insane. Their mother died after some time and the brothers now live in the apartment of their uncle, a doctor, and they are also keen on football. Their team also includes Shust and goalkeeper Misha (whom the brothers nickname as Tolstiy).
Meanwhile Andrei becomes the lover of Anitsa, a young widow who sometime ago came from
Belgrade. Anitsa receives famous poets at her home, at one evening it is possible to see
Osip Mandelstam
Osip Emilyevich Mandelstam ( rus, Осип Эмильевич Мандельштам, p=ˈosʲɪp ɨˈmʲilʲjɪvʲɪtɕ mənʲdʲɪlʲˈʂtam; – 27 December 1938) was a Russian and Soviet poet. He was one of the foremost members of the A ...
,
Anna Akhmatova
Anna Andreyevna Gorenko rus, А́нна Андре́евна Горе́нко, p=ˈanːə ɐnˈdrʲe(j)ɪvnə ɡɐˈrʲɛnkə, a=Anna Andreyevna Gorenko.ru.oga, links=yes; uk, А́нна Андрі́ївна Горе́нко, Ánna Andríyivn ...
and
Vladislav Khodasevich
Vladislav Felitsianovich Khodasevich (russian: Владисла́в Фелициа́нович Ходасе́вич; 16 May 1886 – 14 June 1939) was an influential Russian poet and literary critic who presided over the Berlin circle of Russian e ...
. She is also friends with
Alexander Blok
Alexander Alexandrovich Blok ( rus, Алекса́ндр Алекса́ндрович Бло́к, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ɐlʲɪˈksandrəvʲɪtɕ ˈblok, a=Ru-Alyeksandr Alyeksandrovich Blok.oga; 7 August 1921) was a Russian lyrical poet, writer, publ ...
, whom Nikolai is also acquainted with.
After reading an ad in a newspaper that the British, who work in St. Petersburg, create their own football teams, the brothers also go for try-outs, but they are not taken in. They dream of building their own football field, and decide to purchase an empty piece of land. Shust makes a deal with the Tartar Torgash, who calls a high price (140 rubles) because he has unpaid debts. To collect the right amount the team of Andrei and Nikolai begins to play football for money with local teams.
In St. Petersburg to Anitsa arrives her sister Vita with a little boy whom she calls her brother (before this, Vita and the boy appear in the scene of the departure of Princip). Vita becomes close to Nikolai and suggests to him to take her as his wife. However when Shust brings Torgash the collected money, Vita and Shust are killed by thugs with whom Torgash is in debt.
Anitsa and Vita's boy leave the city. Nikolai goes to the front. Andrei meets Nina whom he previously courted and marries her. Nikolai arrives from the front when there is famine in Petrograd, which has been renamed. Andrei and Nina live with their child in the apartment of their uncle (who like Nikolai and Andrei's father has already died). Andrei tries to get food at the House of Writers and meets Blok with a pot of potatoes and herring. The brothers go to the wasteland where they wanted to build a field, Nikolai takes out the ball brought from the war, and they begin to play and build new plans.
Cast
*Yevgeny Pronin as Andrei
*
Danila Kozlovsky
Danila Valeryevich Kozlovsky (russian: link=no, Данила Валерьевич Козловский; born 3 May 1985) is a Russian actor and director.
Biography Early life and career
Danila Kozlovsky was born in Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet ...
as Nikolai
*
Chulpan Khamatova
Chulpan Nailevna Khamatova PAR (russian: Чулпан Наилевна Хаматова; tt-Cyrl, Чулпан Наил кызы Хаматова; born 1 October 1975) is a Russian film, theater and TV actress
Biography Early life and theat ...
as Anitsa
*
Gosha Kutsenko
Yuriy Georgiyevich Kutsenko (russian: Ю́рий Гео́ргиевич Куце́нко; born 20 May 1967), better known as Gosha Kutsenko (russian: Гоша Куценко), is a Russian actor, producer, singer, poet, and screenwriter. In 2008, ...
as
Alexander Blok
Alexander Alexandrovich Blok ( rus, Алекса́ндр Алекса́ндрович Бло́к, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ɐlʲɪˈksandrəvʲɪtɕ ˈblok, a=Ru-Alyeksandr Alyeksandrovich Blok.oga; 7 August 1921) was a Russian lyrical poet, writer, publ ...
*Anna Banshchikova as Darya
*Iamze Sukhitashvili as Vita
*Pavel Romanov as The Uncle
*Dmitry Vladimirov as Shust
*Aleksandr Bukovski as Tolstiy (Fatty in Russian)
*
Sergei Bugaev as
Osip Mandelstam
Osip Emilyevich Mandelstam ( rus, Осип Эмильевич Мандельштам, p=ˈosʲɪp ɨˈmʲilʲjɪvʲɪtɕ mənʲdʲɪlʲˈʂtam; – 27 December 1938) was a Russian and Soviet poet. He was one of the foremost members of the A ...
*
Dana Agisheva as Nina
References
External links
*
*{{Rotten Tomatoes, garpastum
2000s sports drama films
Russian sports drama films
Films directed by Aleksei Alekseivich German
Films set in 1914
Russian association football films
Films about the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria
Lenfilm films
Cultural depictions of Gavrilo Princip
2005 drama films
2005 films