''Country of the Deaf'' () is a 1998 Russian

crime film Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...

directed by

Valery Todorovsky Valery Petrovich Todorovsky (, ; born 9 May 1962, in Odesa) is a celebrated Russian film director, screenwriter, TV producer. A member of a prominent dynasty of filmmakers, he is the son of Pyotr Todorovsky and the father of Pyotr Todorovsky ...

, loosely based on

Renata Litvinova Renata Muratovna Litvinova (born 12 January 1967) is a Russian actress, film director, and screenwriter. Biography Was born in Moscow to Volga Tatars, Volga Tatar father Murat Aminovich Vergazov and a Russians, Russian mother, Alisa Mikhailo ...

's novel ''To Own and Belong''. The film set in a fictional underworld of

deaf-mute Deaf-mute is a term which was used historically to identify a person who was either deaf and used sign language or both hearing impairment, deaf and muteness, could not speak. The term continues to be used to refer to deaf people who cannot speak ...

people in Moscow. The film was entered into the

48th Berlin International Film Festival The 48th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 11 to 22 February 1998. The festival opened with the Irish film ''The Boxer'' by Jim Sheridan. Francis Ford Coppola's '' The Rainmaker'' was selected as the closing night film. T ...

Plot

Rita is going through a rough time as her boyfriend, Alyosha, a compulsive

roulette Roulette (named after the French language, French word meaning "little wheel") is a casino game which was likely developed from the Italy, Italian game Biribi. In the game, a player may choose to place a bet on a single number, various grouping ...

player, has accumulated a massive debt, putting both their lives at risk. During a tense meeting with his creditor at a restaurant, Alyosha suddenly disappears, leaving Rita alone to face the creditor. While leaving, she crosses paths with Yaya, a

deaf Deafness has varying definitions in cultural and medical contexts. In medical contexts, the meaning of deafness is hearing loss that precludes a person from understanding spoken language, an audiological condition. In this context it is written ...

dancer at the restaurant, who helps her escape. Despite being deaf, Yaya understands hearing people well and convinces Rita to move on from Alyosha, asserting that all men are selfish and encouraging her to live only for herself. The two women become inseparable, with Yaya teaching Rita sign language and sharing her dream of amassing enough money to move to the "Country of the Deaf," where people like her can live freely without limitations. Rita, at first skeptical, warms up to the idea. They attempt to earn money through prostitution but fail, leading Yaya to introduce Rita to Pig, the leader of a deaf gang, who offers Rita a job as his "ears," posing as his wife to help him avoid danger. However, when Rita reunites with Alyosha, their friendship faces tension. Yaya eventually tries to warn Rita about Alyosha's selfishness, but Rita remains loyal. Following a fallout, Rita returns to Alyosha, only for him to squander her savings and abandon her. Yaya then approaches the creditor, begging him to punish Alyosha but spare Rita. In a final showdown between deaf and hearing gangs, all the gang members perish, leaving only Yaya and a now partially deafened Rita. Realizing they are bound together forever, the two women walk into the distance, finding solace in their friendship.

Cast

Chulpan Khamatova Chulpan Nailevna Khamatova (; ; , born 1 October 1975) is a Russian actress. Biography Early life and theater career Chulpan Nailevna Khamatova was born on 1 October 1975 in Kazan, Tatar ASSR, in what was then the Soviet Union. Her parents Mar ...

as Rita *

Dina Korzun Dianna Aleksandrovna "Dina" Korzun (; born 13 April 1971) is a Russian actress. Life and career Korzun was born in Smolensk. She graduated from secondary school and Art school, studied ballet and modern dancing. After graduation from the Moscow ...

as Yaya *

Maksim Sukhanov Maksim Aleksandrovich Sukhanov (Russian language, Russian: Макси́м Алекса́ндрович Суха́нов; born 10 November 1963) is a Soviet Union, Soviet and Russian actor, producer, theatrical composer, and restaurateur. His fil ...

as Svinya * Nikita Tyunin as Alyosha (voiced by

Sergei Bezrukov Sergey Vitalyevich Bezrukov (; born 18 October 1973) is a Soviet and Russian film and stage actor, singer, People's Artist of Russia, the laureate of the State Prize of the Russian Federation. He currently works at Tabakov Studio (the theatre of ...

) * Aleksandr Yatsko as The Albino *

Alexey Gorbunov Oleksiy Serhiyovych Horbunov (; born on 29 October 1961) is a Ukrainian film, television and stage actor. He has been named an Honored Artist of Ukraine (1991) and a People's Artist of Ukraine (2016).

as Landlord * Pavel Pajmalov as Mao *

Sergey Yushkevich Sergey may refer to: * Sergey (name), a Russian given name (including a list of people with the name) * Sergey, Switzerland, a municipality in Switzerland * ''Sergey'' (wasp), a genus in subfamily Doryctinae The Doryctinae or doryctine wasps ar ...

as Nuna *

Alexey Diakov Alexey ( ; ), is a Russian and Bulgarian male given name derived from the Greek ''Aléxios'' (), meaning "Defender", and thus of the same origin as the Latin Alexius. Similar Ukrainian and Belarusian names are romanized as Oleksii (Олекс ...

as Molodoy *

Yaroslav Boyko Yaroslav Nikolaevich Boyko (, ; born May 14, 1970,''Александр Пасюта'' // segodnya.ua (21 мая 2010 года)) is a Russian actor of theater and cinema. Selected filmography * '' Heads and Tails'' (1995) as driver * ''Country o ...

as bandit

Awards

At the

1998 Russian Guild of Film Critics Awards 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

the film was awarded the prizes for ''Best Film'', ''Best Music'' (Alexey Aygi), ''Best Female Actor'' (

), ''Best Supporting Actor'' (

). At the

Nika Award The Nika Award (sometimes styled NIKA Award) is the main annual national film award in Russia, presented by the Russian Academy of Cinema Arts and Science, and seen as the national equivalent of the Oscars. In 2022 nominees were announced, b ...

the film received the prizes for ''Best Female Actor'' (Dina Korzun) and ''Best Sound Design'' (Gleb Kravetsky).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Country Of Deaf 1998 films 1998 crime comedy films 1990s Russian-language films 1990s Russian films Films directed by Valery Todorovsky Films set in Moscow Russian Sign Language films Films about deaf people Russian crime comedy-drama films 1998 crime drama films 1990s crime comedy-drama films

Plot

Cast

Awards

See also

References

External links