Rakushka (Shell)

Rakushka
Rakushka

Two individuals meet for the first time under tragic circumstances: the husband of a young woman who has committed suicide; and her Russian mother, who arrives in Athens to prepare and arrange for her daughter’s funeral.
   Vasilis, a lonely and enigmatic pawnbroker with a shady past, tries to reconcile and come to terms with the circumstances which led to his wife’s suicide. His confessions and recollection of events throughout the film are a compelling admission of the inequities and destructiveness which marred the short lived relationship with his wife Zoya.
   Rakushka is a loose adaptation of Dostoyevsky’s ‘Krotkaya’ (‘The Meek One’), a story of obsessive love and control. Eighteen-year-old Zoya is a cellist who has left her native Tashkent (Uzbekistan) in order to seek a future in modern-day Athens. Driven by financial deprivation, Zoya is forced to sell her personal belongings to Vasilis. Enchanted, Vasilis pursues Zoya and she agrees to marry him. However, the relationship rapidly deteriorates and Vasilis, once the protector, becomes the tyrant. Zoya’s submissiveness and entrapment force her into silent rebellion. A gripping portrayal of the destructive elements of obsession in human relationships, which inevitably end in tragedy.


Director: Fotini Siskopoulou | Rating: R 18+ | 2004 | Drama | 107 minutes | Greek with Russian dialogue with English subtitles

Director's Bio - Fotini Siskopoulou

Born in Thessaloniki in 1954, Fotini studied English literature at the University of Athens. She studied directing, screenwriting and method acting at the Stavrakos Film School, at The London International Film School, at B.F.I, and the Lee Strasberg Studio. She has worked as an assistant director-editor for cinema and television. She has also produced the radio show “Depth of Field”, directed one-off episodes for state TV and in 2001 directed for the theatre “Gilles et la Nuit” by Hugo Claus.

PRINCIPAL CAST

Costas Kalokairinos, Milana Youssoupova, Irina Boiko, Vangelis Mourikis, Dorothea Nikiporczyk, Gennadios Patsis, Costas Hatzidimitriou, Valerios Lefterov, Marietta Sgourdaiou, Romana Lobats

AWARDS

45th Thessaloniki International Film Festival 2004
   Second State Prize for Fiction Film
   Best Director Award
   Best Screenplay Award
   Best Supporting Actor Award - Vangelis Mourikis
 

DIRECTOR's – PREVIOUS FILMS

1978 The Candidate (short)
State Awards 1989

1981 Transfiguration (short)
State Awards 1989

1982 Collection (short)
State Awards 1989

1995 Life on Sale
35th Thessaloniki International Film Festival – 1995, Best Script, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor and Music

2004 Rakushka

2004 Work in Progress – Will you Come?

INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL SCREENINGS

45th Thessaloniki International Film Festival 2004
2005 Berlinale - 55th Berlin International Film Festival (European Filmmarket Section)
27th Moscow International Film Festival 2005


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