Film Forum

Critics hailing the second film by 27-year-old Russian director Kantemir Balagov describe it as “intense,” “intimate,” and “rewarding” (The Hollywood Reporter) and as “ferocious and extraordinary,” during which “you quite often have to remind yourself to breathe” (Variety). Two young women (one so tall and slender she’s referred to as Beanpole) are nurses in a Leningrad hospital, immediately following the end of World War II. A film about relationships between broken people, living in a ravaged nation after a catastrophic war – BEANPOLE exudes deep empathy for its characters in the face of many obstacles fate has thrown in their path. This is a film about Russian history and the Russian soul, about overcoming loss and inventing new ways to get through each day. Balagov is a major talent who has only just begun to make his mark.

BEANPOLE is Russia’s official submission to the 2020 Academy Awards® for Best International Film.

Presented with support from the R.G. Rifkind Foundation Endowment for Queer Cinema.

RUSSIA   2019   137 MINS.   IN RUSSIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES   KINO LORBER

Reviews

“Critic’s Pick… dazzling… Most war movies are about battle; BEANPOLE is about what happens afterward… only the second film from the sensationally talented Russian director Kantemir Balagov… It’s a gut-punch. It’s also a brilliantly told, deeply moving story about love - in all its manifestations, perversity and obstinacy… (With) flashes of beauty and dark comedy.”
– Manohla Dargis, The New York Times

“Ferocious and extraordinary. You quite often have to remind yourself to breathe. Exceptional directorial control and riveting craft. Deeply compelling. Exquisite, painterly compositions. The performances, too, are exemplary. Marks the undeniable arrival of Kantemir Balagov as a major talent.”
– Jessica Kiang, Variety

“Achingly beautiful… [with] extraordinary performances and ROMA-level production design. A bitter and extraordinarily textured portrait of a city that is just beginning to confront its trauma.”
–  David Ehrlich, IndieWire

“Balagov has an amazing rapport with his two nearly novice actors… and the beauty of his mise en scène does not diminish our comprehension of the traumas that, surely, will permanently scar his characters.”
– Amy Taubin, Film Comment