''The Postman's White Nights'' (; ''Belye nochi pochtalona Alekseya Tryapitsyna'') is a 2014 Russian
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...
directed by
Andrei Konchalovsky
Andrei Sergeyevich Konchalovsky (; né Mikhalkov; born 20 August 1937) is a Russian film and theatre director, screenwriter, and producer. His filmmaking career spans over 60 years in Cinema of the Soviet Union, Soviet, Cinema of the United St ...
. The film tells the story of the people of a remote Russian village, whose main contact with the outside world is a postman. All actors in the film are non-professionals, with casting taking place over the course of a year.
It was selected for the In Competition section at the
71st Venice International Film Festival
The 71st annual Venice International Film Festival , was held from 27 August to 6 September 2014, at Venice Lido in Italy.
French composer Alexandre Desplat was the jury president for the main competition. Italian actress Luisa Ranieri hoste ...
and won the
Silver Lion
The Silver Lion (, also known as Silver Lion for Best Direction) is an annual award presented for best directing achievements in a feature film in the official competition section of the Venice Film Festival since 1998.
The prize has been awar ...
.
The film received generally positive reviews from critics. In September 2014, director Konchalovsky withdrew the film from the list of films being considered for the Russian entry for the
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...
.
The film was shot on location at the
Kenozersky National Park
Kenozersky National Park () is a national park in the north of Russia, located in Kargopolsky District, Kargopolsky and Plesetsky Districts of Arkhangelsk Oblast. It was established December 28, 1991. Since 2004, the national park is a UNESC ...
,
Arkhangelsk Oblast
Arkhangelsk Oblast ( rus, Архангельская область, p=ɐrˈxanɡʲɪlʲskəjə ˈobɫəsʲtʲ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). It includes the Arctic Ocean, Arctic archipelagos of Franz ...
, Russia.
Plot
In remote Russian villages scattered across the countryside, people often live on the fringes of society, nearly cut off from government influence and largely left to fend for themselves. In such isolated communities, the village postman becomes a critical link between the few remaining residents and the outside world. This film follows one such postman, Aleksey Tryapitsyn, whose only means of reaching the mainland from his secluded village is by crossing a lake by boat. With just a handful of residents in the village, everyone knows one another, living as their ancestors did for generations. Tryapitsyn serves as their sole connection to modern civilization. When the woman he loves decides to leave for the city to start a new life, and his boat motor is stolen, leaving him unable to deliver mail, he grapples with a choice and ultimately decides to leave as well. However, he soon returns, unable to fully explain why.
Cast
* Aleksey Tryapitsyn as Postman
* Timur Bondarenko as Timur, Irina's son
* Irina Ermolova as Irina
Reception
As of 20 September 2020, ''The Postman's White Nights'' has an approval rating of 89% on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 9 reviews, and an average rating of 8.0/10. The film also has a score of 83% on
Metacritic
Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, based on 4 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".
Cine Vue gave the film four stars. The film was reviewed by ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' magazine, which stated that while the likable protagonists and some stunning shots are notable, they do not compensate for its weak spots.
* ''The Hollywood Reporter:''
"The setting itself is gorgeous, with its boxy cottages fringed by grassy clearings and woodlands, and the placid surface of the water stretching on for miles. It's a rare pleasure to see a film made with such an elegant compositional eye ��Deep-focus shots of Lyokha at his most pensive, standing on the shores of the lake, are loaded with a sense of place, and of belonging. The same goes for the hypnotic Steadycam sequences of him zooming along in his boat, the sound of the motor quietly giving way to a slow build of electronica composer Eduard Artemyev's stirring ambient score with choral elements."
* ''Indiewire.com:''
"'The Postman's White Nights' is being widely celebrated as a quasi-documentary, marked by a droll sense of humor that illuminates life in a forgotten corner of the world. And it is that, no doubt, but for us it went much further than mere anthropological interest. If it presents an accurate picture of this reality, then it feels like it's a reality that is unstable, so far cut off from the mainstream of life that it has begun to fray into the surreal and the magic at the edges."
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Postman's White Nights, The
2014 films
2014 drama films
Russian drama films
2010s Russian films
2010s Russian-language films
Films directed by Andrei Konchalovsky
Films scored by Eduard Artemyev
Russian-language drama films