Sergei Loznitsa - Official Website

MY JOY / 2010

SYNOPSIS

Russia, present day, summer: Truck driver Georgy picks up his latest load and heads off for the motorway, stopping off first at home, where he avoids contact with his wife. His journey is interrupted by two traffic policemen at a checkpoint; and when he evades their seemingly-unnecessary attentions and returns to his cab, he finds an old man sitting in the front seat. The man asks for a lift, and, in return, tells Georgy the sobering story of his return from the German front in 1946. After the old man disappears, Georgy drives into a traffic jam on the main road. A teenage prostitute appears and offers to show him a short-cut – along with her services – and they end up at a village market. There, hurt by Georgy’s attempt to show her some kindness, she abandons him. Leaving the market, Georgy continues his journey alone and ends up lost in a field. By now, night has fallen and his truck has broken down. Three tramps appear out of the darkness, planning a robbery. They invite Georgy for a meal by the fire and offer him a drink. Georgy refuses alcohol and asks for directions back to the motorway, but the meal ends violently and abruptly…

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

original title

СЧАСТЬЕ МОЕ [SCHASTYE MOE]

english title

MY JOY

genre

feature/drama

country

Germany, Ukraine, Netherlands

year

2010

language

Russian

subtitle

English

color

runtime

128 min

sound

5.1

aspect ratio

2.35:1

film format

35 mm

CREW

written & directed

Sergei Loznitsa

director(s) of photography

Oleg Mutu R.S.C.

production designer

Kirill Shuvalov

costume designer

Mare Raidma

sound

Vladimir Golovnitski

editing

Danielius Kokanauskis

co-producer(s)

Marleen Slot, Leontine Petit, Joost de Vries

producer(s)

Heino Deckert, Oleg Kokhan

co-production

Lemming Film

production

ma.ja.de. Fiction, Sota Cinema Group

with the support of

ZDF/ARTE

CAST

Georgy

Viktor Nemets

Major from Moscow

Vlad Ivanov

Gypsy woman

Maria Varsami

Old Man

Vladimir Golovin

Girl Prostitute

Olga Shuvalova

Young Lieutenant

Alexey Vertkov

One-Armed Man

Yuriy Sviridenko

Truck driver

Boris Kamorzin

Train Station Superintendent

Dmitriy Gotsdiner

The Major's Wife

Olga Kogut

Review: Sergei Loznitsaʼs "My Joy"on Notebook MUBI, 2011-09-30, www.mubi.com

Starting with the one man, his truck, and the road, Loznitsaʼs film finds good reason to branch off from that singular movement in newly opened directions of story, as the region the man travels through seems a repository for Russian history, miscreant deeds and shackled existences.

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