Review: Khabensky's Brave Performance in Yura Was Here

Perm audiences were among the first to see the film Yura Was Here (18+). Its main character is an adult with mental disabilities — he cannot speak and behaves like a small child. The film will be released in theaters from February 5, but our journalist has already watched it and shares her opinion. What follows — in the first person.

The film tells the story of young people — musicians Oleg and Sergei, living in a rented communal apartment. The mother of one of them asks the guys to take in Oleg«s uncle Yura for a while and look after him. The man cannot be left alone due to his helplessness.

From the very first minutes, the viewer gets the impression that they have stepped into the frame and are living together with the characters in their rundown communal apartment. The camera moves behind the characters« backs, then shifts to their faces and shows them up close — and not in the format of a perfectly composed shot, but as if accidentally captured. Many scenes are shot not from a tripod, but »handheld« — so the viewer never loses the sense of immediacy of what is happening.

At a meeting with Perm residents after the premiere, director Sergei Malkin admitted his interest in documentary film, which he has worked in since his student days. Cinematographer Filipp Zadorozhny, who worked on the film, also shoots documentaries, and the film reflects his interest in live footage.

The main character — Uncle Yura — does not appear immediately in the film. According to the plot, the young people come for him at the police station, where he mistakenly ended up with his intoxicated brother.

I did not immediately recognize Konstantin Khabensky in the main role — he is so different in this film — partly due to makeup, partly due to the movement mannerisms characteristic of people with mental disabilities, which he adopted. The actor so immersed himself in the character and became his role that even you — a person from the audience, involuntarily want to hand him the TV remote and help open the door.

At first, the friends cautiously accept the new adult companion into their company. They do not know how to behave with him, how to explain basic everyday things, but then their relationship becomes more natural, they begin to feel him as their friend and even organize a modest birthday for Yura.

To not leave Uncle Yura alone, they take him with them everywhere — even to an interview and their own concert. During the performance, when the guys are on stage, Yura leaves the club and gets lost. Oleg rushes to search for him. He finds his uncle, curled up and hiding behind a garbage bin. At this moment, you almost physically feel Yura«s fear of this loud and incomprehensible world.

After this follows a touching scene where Oleg tries to warm and calm his uncle, drawing him a warm bath and seating him in it. In the naked, hunched figure, the helplessness of a child inside an adult body is especially evident. He shivers and still cannot warm up, and you shiver with him. This is one of the strongest scenes in the film. I believe it takes great acting courage to not be afraid to play such a character — unattractive on the outside, strange and absurd.

The young musician friends are talentedly played by Denis Paramonov and Kuzma Kotrelyov. The friends« relationship is touching and sincere, and the dialogues are spontaneous and lively. The characters easily befriend — even if they quarrel, they immediately laugh and are together again. Against the backdrop of the old rundown communal apartment, their friendship seems like a true value, filled with light.

This film is merely about an episode, a snippet from the lives of young people. But precisely during this time spent with Yura, something changes in them. As if they begin to see the world through his eyes — it is unhurried, mesmerizing with beauty, love, and light.