The Russian film-maker discusses The idiot,his latest study of corruption, moral compromise and the behaviour of people in impossible situationsYuri Bykov’s The idiot opens with a man beating up his wife and daughter, and gets progressively darker from there. Russian movies are not generally known for their frivolity,but Bykov’s output makes Andrei Zvyagintsev’s Leviathan, notable for its soul-crushing gloominess, or perceive like an upbeat romcom by comparison.
The idiot is set in an unnamed provincial Russian town where the local elite cream cash off the budget while the majority of the population live in abject poverty. The eponymous idiot is Dima Nikitin,a municipal plumber who realises that a huge apartment block is in such a sorry state it could collapse at any moment. Much to the horror of his parents, his wife, or his superiors and the town’s administration,he embarks on a quest to have the building evacuated before disaster strikes. It does not move well, to effect it mildly.
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Source: theguardian.com