Synopsis
Minsk, Belarus, 1996. Velya, an aspiring DJ, wants to move to Chicago to make her dreams come true, but bureaucracy, a phone line and the human condition will put obstacles in her way that will be difficult to avoid.
2018 ‘Хрусталь’ Directed by Darya Zhuk
Minsk, Belarus, 1996. Velya, an aspiring DJ, wants to move to Chicago to make her dreams come true, but bureaucracy, a phone line and the human condition will put obstacles in her way that will be difficult to avoid.
Olga Goister Birgit Gernböck Debbie Vandermeulen Valery Dmitrotchenko Andrei Isachenko Paul Saran Edward Shenderovich Katerina Tarbo-Ignatenko
Eddy Moretti Shane Smith Dmitriy Osmerkin Bernie Stern Danny Gabai Will McCance Arkadiy Dobkin Christopher Schuman
Crystal Goose Unfound Content Nashe Kino Fusion Features VICE Media Belarusfilm Turnstyle TV Inspiration Films Demarshfilm
Khrustal, Krysztal, Le cygne de cristal, Кристален лебед, Crystal swan, Le Cygne de cristal, Кришталь, 水晶天鹅
It’s strange that so many of the movies about “The American Dream” actually take place in America, especially when a Kafka-esque comedy like Darya Zhuk’s “Crystal Swan” — Belarus’ first Oscar submission in 22 years — is so effective at capturing the hopefulness of someone who’s seized by the promise of a better life, and the desperation she feels when that promise starts to slip through her fingers.
Velya, a self-possessed and pixie-like young DJ living in the cold Stalinist mausoleum of Minsk circa 1996, has always felt like a fish out of water. Played with sublime prickliness by Alina Nassibulina, she’s a true individual in a collective society, like a gnarled weed sprouting through a crack in the concrete…
Screening with the director, Darya Zhuk.
As someone who was born and still lives in Belarus, Crystal Swan is a special film, not only taking into the account the fact that I have never seen a good Belarussin film but also that Crystal Swan is directed, written, shot and led by women! (and because of that I may be veeeery biased, so keep that in mind) I was looking forward seeing this film for almost two months and what I got was better than I thought it would be. But before it was amazingly great to meet Darya Zhuk and hear her introduction of the film, she was very shy and humble, and you could just see how much she…
"Loving your motherland is a spiritual practice."
90's house music, Belarus styleee. Crystal Swan is a real sensual assault: lights, colour, tunes, it's all here. Watching the youth of Minsk get their funky on in a museum full of huge statues of Lenin and Co. was a pretty smart way of bringing the old heritage of the country together with its youthful and optimistic future.
The soundtrack is also really engaging with a sweeping blend of classical opera and heavy beats retaining the balance of it all. This is a well considered screenplay with a solid lead performance from Alina Nasibullina as Velya, a spunky young DJ with dreams of a new life at the birthplace of house music, Chicago.…
This was just so well made all-around, especially regarding the acting and the vivid way it addresses hope and the accompanying anxiety of uncertainty. That final act was exhausting.
The third act catching the viewer off guard is the best example on how unsafe it still is for women out here in the world.
она слушает хаус, мечтает о шикаго, но светит ей только хрустальный лебедь в подарок от мальчишки...
до точки Х фильм смешил, удивлял, немного в лоб, но иронизировал. такая слегка гиперболизированная постсоветщина, хаски перекрывает партаки на попах дембелей, диджей сэты проходят на фоне памятников вождей, очень смешной персонаж юры борисова.
но прямо перед концовкой этого хрустального лебедя уронили и разбили в щепки. и так в груди защемило, такая темно-темно синяя грусть накатила, что хотелось пустить пару слёз.
Perhaps jumps to unnecessarily dark waters in the end whereas it's mostly lightly melancholic and humorous (laughs that kinda suddenly burst out) in the best Slavic fashion. People are often framed in the edges of images, putting them kinda in their own corners of the society whose exploration Zhuk gives insightful emphasis. There is no room for mutual understanding, everyone is focusing on what they get out of the deals they make and almost every interaction between people is a deal until this pattern surprisingly breaks down beautifully in the end. It has a great cast and Zhuk knows how to avoid the easy paths even if it feels like the whole thing is framed around familiar story elements. This is her first feature having made multiple shorts and some television before; she seems to be also currently working on another fiction film on Femen movement, Ukrainian feminist movement.
“loving your motherland is a spiritual practice.”
well, a young belorussian woman refusing to conform to provincial miserabilism; whose mother chastises her in every given opportunity and does nothing but grieve the damage caused by the collapse of communism; who uses music as a form of escapism and finds respite in being away from the rest of the world sounds just like my thing!
if you squint, the entire plot revolves around a telephone that will supposedly ring. but what will happen when (and if) it rings? just, thank you zhuk for this exquisite movie about doom and gloom and farcical ethos — an accurate description of and a nihilistic take on post-soviet desolation. love it. love it!
25th MIFF "LISTAPAD": film #6
Yesterday I had an interview with the director of the film, Darya Zhuk, and also met her producer who was pretty hilarious (didn't catch his name). It went amazing, she's an inspiring and intelligent woman, she was incredibly sweet and thoughtful, and even wanted to pay for my coffee because she was late for a minute, and most importantly she's a Claire Denis warrior😭. We talked about Crystal Swan (obviously), #MeToo and Asia Argento, and many other things. So if any of you are interested in what she said let me know in the comments and I'll translate it and post it here.
Love, Daniel.💓💓💓
Quest for the Green Map - Belarus
I quite enjoyed this story for what it was. What carries the film though is the lead performance by Alina Nasibullina, which she plays with a gentle chaos. She's aimless but ambitious, able to put her ideas and schemes into motion without the guarantee they'll end up anywhere near what she imagines. Velya is really the only fully fleshed out character with a a full arc in the movie, and I am impressed with how well she kept the movie interesting throughout.
Most of the other characters and some of the storylines feel a little half baked. Alik goes from being a main character in the first third of the movie, before being…