Priklyuchenie

Marat is a solitary figure, both in private and at work, where he is a night security guard for a large company. One evening he looks out of his window and sees a young woman down below who seems to be waiting for someone. The next day Marat sees her again, but this time he witnesses her being assaulted, so he goes to her aid and accompanies her home. His curiosity is aroused when the girl, named Mariyam, tells him that she waits every evening for her lover, who is supposed to be returning any day now. On subsequent days, Mariyam takes Marat to various parts of the city, and although her actions continually cause him trouble, the man cannot help being drawn to her complex personality. In his loose adaptation of Dostoyevsky's White Nights, the director opts for maximum economy and, via fleeting images of repeated situations, gives the narrative the impression of a spiral structure. The film was shot on the streets of Almaty, but was enhanced with subtle artistic and acoustic details which illustrate the protagonist's fascination for the young woman and lend the tale its strange, melancholic ambience. (Karlovy Vary International Film Festival)