Dovlatov (2018)

Directed by: Aleksey German Jr. | 126 minutes | biography, drama | Actors: Milan Maric, Danila Kozlovsky, Helena Sujecka, Artur Beschastny, Elena Lyadova, Anton Shagin, Svetlana Khodchenkova, Piotr Gasowski, Eva Gerr, Hanna Sleszynska, Mina Landraw, Leonid Paranin

1971, Leningrad, formerly Saint Petersburg. It’s sometime in early November. The cold covers the city like an icy blanket. For writer and journalist Sergei Dovlatov, this backdrop is his daily view. Although the Russian prefers to work on his self-proclaimed groundbreaking novel, his publisher sends him out to describe the great outdoors. Positive stories are expected of him. Any optimism is hard to find.

Dovlatov himself lives with his mother, in a flat apartment they share with others. He is divorced with his wife. As a result, he has little contact with their daughter. Because of his Jewish descent, he is regularly viewed with suspicion. The manuscript of his book is constantly refused. The prose demanded of him cannot measure up to his understanding of real literature. Only, literature belonged to evil in Russia at the time. As an art form that belongs to the West. Paragon of pernicious capitalism, propagator of individualism. He looks forward to his future with sorrow.

That feeling is reinforced by his encounters with fellow sufferers. In his walks through the city and his visits to both cultural events and social gatherings, he finds that life is difficult for everyone. The strong anti-intellectual climate also makes it difficult for his friends to find work. But the prospect of the working class is also pitiful. A country in the grip of decline. For Dovlatov there is only one way out, however it goes against the meaning of the national consensus: art. Language alone, as the weapon of the writer, is able to offer salvation. A weapon to freedom. A weapon to a better future.

The film calmly takes the viewer down the stream of Dovlatov’s adventures. At the same time, the dormant dissatisfaction begins to turn into something with real consequences. The powerlessness among like-minded people is increasing. A fellow writer tries to end his life when his manuscript is rejected. Another, who is trying to earn some extra money in the black market, is arrested. Many go abroad in the meager hope of finding a better life there. The hardships are real.

Dovlatov himself is caught between his somewhat subversive and self-destructive quest for freedom and a dogged but decent loyalty to the fatherland. This takes place in beautifully staged scenes, which are somehow reminiscent of Fellini. The camera swings through the set, like a casual passer-by who registers the dialogue of the many characters. But in subject matter, ‘Dovlatov’ is quintessentially Russian. The film discusses the work of the great Russian writers in order to include itself in that list, in its own visual style. This is accompanied by the necessary tragedy, but that is precisely where the most beautiful art arises.