The Messenger (1987)

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Movie
German title The messenger
Original title Курьер
Country of production USSR
original language Russian
Publishing year 1987
length 90 minutes
Rod
Director Karen Shachnasarov
script Alexander Borodyansky
production Mosfilm
music Eduard Artemjew
camera Nikolai Nemolyayev
Valery Shuvalov
cut Lidija Milioti
occupation

Der Bote ( Курьер Kurjer ) is a Soviet feature film directed by Karen Shachnasarow from 1987 , which he made according to his own story.

action

In Moscow , the marriage of Ivan Miroshnikov's parents is divorced at the request of his mother, because her husband has a new, much younger girlfriend whom Ivan meets after the trial. He kept in touch with his father until he was transferred to Africa for a longer period of time to take on a new job as an engineer. Iwan graduated from school at around 18 years of age and is preparing for life. He does not pass the entrance exam at the pedagogical school, which he is supposed to attend at the request of his mother. He writes the opposite to his father in order to please him and because he does not always take the truth exactly. He doesn't treat his mother very lovingly either, so she describes him as cold, callous and sadistic and therefore sometimes has to cry.

Ivan is now looking for a job to bridge the time until he is drafted into the army , but only his mother finds him a job as a messenger for a magazine. This almost didn't work either, since he falsified his résumé with apparently made up stories when applying. After apologizing and filling out the form correctly, he gets the job as a messenger in the editorial office . The editor-in-chief instructs him in his duties in the presence of the editorial secretary and he immediately receives an urgent assignment. He has to bring a manuscript to Professor Kuznetsov, who is an expert on pedagogy for the journal, for editing. But Ivan is stopped on the way by his friend Basin, so that he only arrives two hours late at the professor, whose daughter of the same age opens the door for him. Of course, he tricked the girl with a made-up story until he expresses his real concern and is led to the professor. After a warning, he wants to send him away immediately, but Iwan asks for a slice of bread and a cup of tea because he is hungry. In the kitchen he pays the girl his first compliments and then tells a made-up story of how he once seduced a teacher at school. After the girl says that she is in her first semester of study, he replies that she passed the entrance exams with honors, but he prefers to gain experience before joining the army.

The next day Ivan has to go to Kuznetsov again to pick up the manuscript, because it has to go to the typesetting . This time Mrs. Kuznetsova opens the door and invites Ivan to join the family at lunch. Here he learns that his daughter is called Katja and the professor introduces him to his mother as a representative of modern youth who is a mixture of nihilism and cheek. After several allegations about today's youth, he asks Iwan what principles he wants to live by in society. His answer is simple: he wants a good salary, a car, an apartment in central Moscow, a dacha and as little work as possible. The professor makes it clear to him that all of this can only be achieved through hard work, which Iwan describes as a darkly drawn picture, which is why he would prefer to walk in such a case. But he interjects that with a marriage one would also be able to achieve all the advantages of the beautiful life and by that he means especially Katja, whom he could seduce. Now it's enough for the professor and he throws him out of the apartment. Katja hands Iwan the manuscript into the hallway, tells him how great she thought his performance was and has his phone number given. In the evening, they both talk on the phone and arrange to meet the next day.

The meeting begins with Ivan's suggestion that they kiss each other first, but Katja refuses. After a walk through a sandy desert near Moscow, the two of them end up in a discotheque and sit down at his friends' table, which she doesn't like either. After Katja's phone call with her friend, they go to her birthday party, where the young people present there all come from wealthy parents who they brag about and with which they in turn lure Ivan out of the reserve. When asked what he is studying or what he works, he replies that he was imprisoned in a camp for five years and that this entry in his files does not give him a decent job. To prove that there was no real alcohol in the camp, he drinks two bottles of French perfume, which makes him sick and which is why he then goes home alone, although Katja wants to accompany him. His mother brings him to bed, and of course he tells a lot of nonsense again.

One of the next days Katja is visited by Ivan at home and both singing silly and playing around with the piano when suddenly her father is in the room. When Ivan is about to leave, he calls him into his room to talk to him. Here he makes it clear to him that he does not find his company suitable for Katja and asks him to break off the relationship with her. Ivan makes it clear to him that this is no longer possible because they want to have a child and get married. From this new point of view, Kuznetsov no longer wants to throw him out of the apartment and when he says goodbye, Ivan only asks him if he can say Papa to him.

One day later, Iwan picks Katja up from the university to apologize to her. Although Katja is very angry with him for what he did to her, he doesn't have to apologize to her, because the way her father scolded her, she couldn't think of anything better than to confirm the pregnancy . Now she demands from Iwan that he make her a child immediately, although they have not even kissed yet. Neither of them have had any intimate relationships with the opposite sex in the past, but Katja is of the opinion that a man should have an idea of ​​it. They don't have much time because their lectures start again at 2:00 p.m., but they can't find a place that suits them.

In the evening Ivan wants to apologize to the Kuznetsovs in a fine suit and is invited by them to a celebration that is currently taking place, at which other guests are present, to whom he is introduced by the professor as his daughter's funniest friend. During the conversation, the older guests complain about their own children and young people in general, whose behavior they do not understand and approve of. Ivan throws in that the young people just want to let off steam and then surely become like their parents. When he is supposed to answer how he imagines further life, Katja, who listens in horror to the course of the conversation, answers what she dreams of. She wants to be beautiful to please men and to drive a nice sports car with a tape recorder and a lap dog in the back seat. Then she runs into a nearby park, completely distraught, because she can no longer stand the situation in the apartment. Here Iwan finds her, puts his coat around her shoulders and sits next to her without a word. Katja finally asks him not to visit or call her anymore and is then brought home by her father because the other guests have already left.

production

The film, shot in color, premiered in June 1987 under the title Курьер in the Soviet Union, where it reached around 32 million viewers.

In the GDR it was first shown on May 6, 1988 on the occasion of the Week of German-Soviet Friendship in Berlin's Kino International . The film was broadcast on the 2nd program on March 4, 1990 on East German television.

criticism

In the daily newspaper Neue Zeit , Helmut Ullrich said that the story reflects the unadorned attitude towards life of today's young generation, which is confronted with the incomprehension of the older generation. The exact milieu observations offer a description of the condition that should make one thoughtful.

The lexicon of international films described the film as a lovingly drawn picture of a likeable young person on his way into the adult world.

Awards

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Berliner Zeitung of May 3, 1988, p. 8
  2. ↑ Neue Zeit of May 25, 1988; P. 4
  3. ↑ The Messenger. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed August 19, 2019 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  4. ↑ Berliner Zeitung of July 18, 1987, p. 10