La delegazione
Italy / Russia,
1993, 92 min
Shown in 1995
CREDITS
- dir
-
Alexander Galin
- prod
-
Luca Barbareschi, Sergei Baev
- scr
-
Alexander Galin
- cam
-
Mikhail Agranovich
- editor
-
Enzo Meniconi
- cast
-
Inna Churikova, Luca Barbareschi, Ekaterina Grabbe, Andrei Smirnov
- source
-
Chance Film
- premiere
-
North American Premiere
-
COMMENTS
Alexander Galin in person.
OTHER
Yet another gaggle of tourists arrives in Venice, the most magically beautiful city on earth—and, often, the most deceptive. All women, they are members of a “Delegation,” about to spend their final 48 hours in Italy before returning to their forlorn Workers’ Paradise (the film appears to be set in the period just before the collapse of the USSR.) Unused to Western opulence, most of them are eager to partake of the few luxuries they can afford on their meager allotment of rubles: a shopping bag full of food for the kids, a few minutes’ worth of soft porn on hotel TV. One member of the delegation, however, isn’t satisfied: Chloja (Inna Churikova) sets out on her own to enjoy long strolls through the city’s labyrinthine streets and voluptuous meals in its fabled restaurants Suddenly she is swept away by a handsome knight, Lorenzo (Luca Barbereschi). He squires her all around the magic city, making her feel like a real princess. Except that we know, as Chloja will not until the film’s final crushing finale, that the piper will indeed have to be paid. Renowned theater director Alexander Galin turns to film directing with this unusual coproduction, ably abetted by wonderful performances from the always magnificent Inna Churikova (The Year of the Dog, SFIFF 1994) and Luca Barbareschi.
FACTOID #180
According to the Chronicle’s Herb Caen, producer David O. Selznick’s ’last letter and last phone call were to [SFIFF administrator] Shirley Temple Black to whom he said, ’I can’t wait to see you at the Festival.’’ Selznick was the namesake for a series of awards at the San Francisco International.
