Country of the Deaf

1998 film

February 1998 (1998-02)

Running time

105 minutesCountryRussiaLanguagesRussian
Sign language

Country of the Deaf (Russian: Страна глухих, romanized: Strana glukhikh) is a 1998 Russian crime film directed by Valery Todorovsky, loosely based on Renata Litvinova's novel To Own and Belong.^[1] The film set in a fictional underworld of deaf-mute people in Moscow. The film was entered into the 48th Berlin International Film Festival.^[2]

Plot

The action takes place in Moscow in the 1990s. The heroine of the film – Rita – is forced into hiding; her friend Alyosha has disappeared after losing someone else's money in a game of roulette. She is rescued and hidden by Yaya, a deaf nightclub dancer, who lives only for one thing – to save money and go to some fabulous "country of the deaf," where only deaf people live, and virtue and justice reign. Suddenly, the girls find themselves in the center of a violent clash between two mafia clans – one hearing and one deaf.

Cast

Chulpan Khamatova as Rita
Dina Korzun as Yaya
Maksim Sukhanov as Svinya
Nikita Tyunin as Alyosha (voiced by Sergei Bezrukov)
Aleksandr Yatsko as The Albino
Alexey Gorbunov as Landlord
Pavel Pajmalov as Mao
Sergey Yushkevich as Nuna
Alexey Diakov as Molodoy
Yaroslav Boyko as bandit

Awards

At the 1998 Russian Guild of Film Critics Awards the film was awarded the prizes for Best Film, Best Music (Alexey Aygi), Best Female Actor (Dina Korzun), Best Supporting Actor (Maksim Sukhanov).^[3] At the Nika Award the film received the prizes for Best Female Actor (Dina Korzun) and Best Sound Design (Gleb Kravetsky).^[4]

References

^ "Страна глухих". Encyclopedia of Russian Cinema. Archived from the original on 13 February 2018. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
^ "Berlinale: 1998 Programme". berlinale.de. Retrieved 22 January 2012.
^ "1998". Russian Guild of Film Critics.
^ "Лауреаты Национальной кинематографической премии "НИКА" за 1998 год". Nika Award.