Mamie, Vanya et la Chèvre

Having arrived back at the family courtyard Vanya is tipped onto a mattress where he is to sleep off his hangover. Soon afterwards he repeats his disappearing act, once again to hit the bottle? The neighbour who sells him her homemade alcohol is soon on the doorstep however, this time with a request for milk. As a form of protest against the neighbour’s behaviour Vanya’s mother throws the milk in her face.

With an eye for detail and no small amount of affection director Daria Yurkevich narrates a day in the life of a village. Though practically devoid of dialogue, the images nevertheless provide a sense of both the pressures of life in the countryside as well as the extremes these can push rural inhabitants to. MM