This is a languid and beautifully made account of the lives of three families who live in the polluted Russian city of Magnitogorsk, which is situated on the border between Europe and Asia. The young parents all work at the state-run Kombinat, one of the largest iron and steel factories in the country, and spend much of their time talking about the possibilities of leaving. Despite the passing of communism, their lives, lived against the backdrop of the Kombinat’s rusty smokestacks, still seem very much like they would have at the height of the cold war. With the banality of their working lives counterpointed with an anachronistic surrealism, Kombinat falls midway between the stories of Chekhov and Kafka, rendered in the medium of social-realist cinema.
Availability &
Screening Time:
Director(s):
Gabriel Tejedor
Country:
Switzerland
Year:
2020
Running Time:
76 min
Language(s):
Russian
Courtesy of Embassy of Switzerland in South Africa, Consulate General of Switzerland in Cape Town, Swiss Films
