Khabensky appeals for help after Perm screening of 'adult child' film
A pre-release screening of the new film «Yura Was Here» (18+) took place in Perm. The main role of Uncle Yura—a man with mental disabilities—is played by Konstantin Khabensky. After the capital«s social premiere, Perm became the first city where the film was shown. It will be released widely only on February 5. Director Sergei Malkin met with the Perm audience and talked about the real story that formed the basis of the film, as well as exchanged opinions with Perm residents.
The film tells the story of young people—musicians living in a rented apartment. The mother of one of them asks the guys to temporarily take in a relative—Uncle Yura—and look after him. The man cannot be left alone due to mental disabilities—adult Yura cannot speak and behaves like a child. For ten days, the guys are forced to look after him and take their new friend everywhere with them—even to their own concert. During this time, something changes inside them, as if more light appears.
Yura is played by Konstantin Khabensky, and the roles of the guys are performed by Kuzma Kotrelyov, Denis Paramonov, Alexander Porshin, Vasily Mikhailov.
The pre-screening of the film was held in two halls of the «Crystal» center, and both halls quickly filled completely with people.
«You»re just filming a person«s real life»
After the film, director Sergei Malkin admitted that he always dreamed of an audience like the one in Perm.
«I felt gratitude for how the hall watched this film,» said the director.
Perm residents also said many kind words to the director for the film—its naturalness, lively dialogues, warmth, and life-affirmation. Some even came up to hug Sergei and shook hands. The author admitted that he previously worked in documentary film, and this experience allowed him to create a sense of life in an already artistic film.
«Documentary film is observing some person, when you follow the hero with a camera, microphone, and film his life,» admitted the director. «At some point, he stops paying attention to you, and you»re just filming a person«s real life. I fell in love with and was so inspired by documentary film that I wanted my feature films to resemble documentaries. Because of this, I take actors into my film who feel free in improvisation and never constrain them with dialogues.»
«I got up at 8 AM to cook porridge for Yura»
The director admitted that the plot included a real story from his life. Yura—the uncle of one of his comrades—lived with him and his friends.
«I showed how it looked,» said Sergei Malkin. «And it looked like we had to take responsibility for an adult child. At that time, we were probably 25–26 years old. I got up at 8 AM to cook porridge for Yura. Therefore, in the film, I relied only on my experience and showed how I see it.»
The audience was concerned about what happened to the real Yura, how his story ended. They bombarded the director with questions.
«Now he lives in a remote village with his brother, my friend rarely sees him, but they call his brother,» answered Sergei. «Soon my friend will have a wedding, and his Uncle Yura with his brother will come to it.»
«My character is not just a movie character»
Konstantin Khabensky played a role not typical for him in the film and surprised the audience with his immersion into the main character«s image. We asked the director how this great artist ended up in his film.
The audience was shown a video recording in which Konstantin Khabensky addressed Perm residents.
«My character Yura is not just a movie character, he is one of the people with mental disabilities, of whom there are many in our country, including in the city of Perm,» said the artist. «They have their own special language, and it is very important for them to be heard. We are often not ready or do not want to decipher what they transmit to us. For such people, it is very important to have companions on this difficult route of life towards independence. We cannot change their past, but we can contribute to their future. Therefore, I very much ask you to pay attention to those organizations that help people with mental disabilities and, if possible, do everything to somehow help.»
About modern Russian cinema
The audience asked the director to share his opinion on modern Russian cinema and what is happening in it.
«For me, modern Russian cinema is about detachment from reality,» admitted Sergei Malkin. «About people who don»t exist, about heroes I don«t see. That is, screenwriters and directors imagine that such people exist. But I don»t see such people. We have drowned in fairy tales, like in a swamp. But we don«t want to watch endless fairy tales, we want something much more. And if we support some young directors who don»t receive funding, then we and you will show that we want more. And then, I think, things will slowly start to improve, I hope.«
