My Joy
| My Joy | |
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Film poster
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| Directed by | Sergei Loznitsa |
| Produced by | Oleh Kokhan |
| Written by | Sergei Loznitsa |
| Starring | Viktor Nemets |
| Cinematography | Oleg Mutu |
| Edited by | Danielius Kokanauskis |
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Release date
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Running time
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127 minutes |
| Country | Ukraine |
| Language | Russian |
My Joy (Russian: Счастье моё, translit. Schastye moyo; Ukrainian: Щастя моє, translit. Shchastya moye) is a 2010 Ukrainian road movie directed by Sergei Loznitsa. It is set in the western regions of Russia, somewhere near Smolensk. My Joy was the first Ukrainian film ever to compete for the Palme d'Or.
It is summer, and young driver Georgy takes his light truck on a trip to another town with a cargo of flour. He is stopped at a road police post by a pair of rude and corrupt policemen. While they are flirting with the woman they stopped earlier, Georgy manages to grab his papers and leave unnoticed. There he picks up a hitchhiker, an old man who recounts him a disturbing story: soon after World War II, while returning home from the front, a corrupt military officer brazenly robbed him by threatening him with arrest if he did not comply. He later shot the officer in retaliation. Later when Georgy parks his truck and steps out and shortly returns, the old man has disappeared.
Later Georgy meets an underage prostitute. He takes pity on the girl and gives her some money and food, but she is offended by his charity, insults him and leaves.
Later yet, Georgy is lost in the night and decides to camp in the field until dawn. Three locals approach and try to steal from the truck, only to be stopped by Georgy. They distract his attention with some neutral conversation, telling him how one of their friends is a mute because someone killed his father in front of him when he was a child. Suddenly one hits Georgy on the head with a log and he loses consciousness.
The scene shifts to the times of World War II. Early in the war, two Soviet soldiers from a defeated unit cautiously feel their way through the occupied land in the deep German rear. They enter a lone house where lives a widowed teacher with his infant son. The teacher is kind to the soldiers and provides them with much-needed food and shelter. However, the soldiers regard his pacifism and indifference towards the German invaders as treasonous, so they kill him, rob the house, and continue on their way, leaving the child to his own devices.
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Wikipedia