The Asthenic Syndrome (1989)

This film is also showing at our sister cinema, Lido Cinemas

Australian Premiere - 4K Restoration

‘Mean-spirited and assertive one moment, narcoleptic and in complete denial the next, [The Asthenic Syndrome] bears an astonishing resemblance to the disconcerting rhythm of contemporary public life.’ – Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

After attending her husband’s funeral, a middle-aged woman makes her way back home through the streets of Odesa, navigating an urban landscape full of animus and hysteria. This exhilaratingly acidic portrait of everyday life is soon revealed, however, to merely constitute a film-within-the-film. As the movie ends and patrons flee the cinema, an audience member emerges into a kaleidoscopic outside world that’s every bit as chaotic as what he (and we) just saw on screen, taking us on a discursive and bleakly funny tour through a crumbling USSR: from classroom to psychiatric hospital, from bohemian party to animal shelter.

The pre-eminent Ukrainian filmmaker of the second half of the twentieth century, Kira Muratova has long been championed by critics even as her work has rarely been exhibited on international cinema screens. A free-flowing black comedy that steadfastly defies narrative norms, The Asthenic Syndrome is largely considered her greatest masterpiece: a pure cinematic representation of late-Soviet malaise.

Introduced by Greg Dolgopolov at Ritz Cinemas and David Heslin at Lido Cinemas.

Rating

Unclassified 15+

Duration

153 min

Language

Russian (English subtitles)

Cast

Olga Antonova, Sergei Popov, Galina Zakhurdaeva, Natalya Buzko, Aleksandra Svenskaya, Pavel Polishchuk

Director

Kira Muratova