chorniy baran poster 160x230

Black Lamb

Full-length feature film

Production company: Narodnoe Kino Film Studio
Release year: 2009

IMDB

Synopsis

The family of a shepherd from the Caucuses inherits a car-wash in Moscow. From the far-away pastures they come to the capital and find themselves in an entirely different world with different values. Naive, trustful and eager to make new friends they are harshly rejected by the locals, who see them as aliens, with their sheep, their customs, and their reverence to the head of the family, the Grandfather, who makes an almost mythological figure.

The family of the newcomers experiences a number of difficulties. They come to conflicts with raiders, who want to take away their inheritance, the car-wash. They work hard on making friends with the keeper of the property, who is greatly upset by the nationality, appearance, and manners of the new owners. The story develops as a chain of funny adventures. The son of the shepherd falls passionately in love with a girl who is an “alien” too, a migrant worker from the Ukraine. The granddaughters of the old shepherd, who do their best to help the family, often end up in scrapes, sometimes funny or absurd, sometimes dangerous.

And only the weird black ram, that seems to appear out of the blue, unites everything as a generalizing metaphor. The ram embodies the attempts to cross the mental gap between Russia and the Caucuses, to overcome the mutual mistrust and hatred that divide the peoples.

Cast

Nicolay Fedorovich (keeper)   Vladimir Ilyin
Liparit (old shepherd)   Elgudzha Burduly
Petros (son of Liparit)   Karen Badalov
Anush (granddaughter of Liparit)   Alyona Stebunova
Arpik (granddaughter of Liparit)   Liza Podolsky
Vera (fiancee of Petros)   Olga Beshulya
Yura (municipal clerk)   Boris Kamorzin
Kirill (raider)   Aleksey Barabash
Jeep driver   Aleksey Kravchenko
Sanitary officer   Daniil Spivakovsky
Misha (young cop)   Boris Korchevnikov
Cop (in car)   Aleksander Klukvin
Cop assistant (in car)   Michael Prismotrov-Belov
Akop (old gangster, Liparit''s brother)   Vladimir Episkoposyan
Priest   Slava Stepanyan

Crew

Writer & Director   Roman Khrushch
Producer   Evgeny Zobov
Camera   Victor Shestoperov
Art Director   Oleg Smarovsky
Music by   Lev “LJOVA” Zhurbin
Editing by   Julia Batalova
Sound   Andrei Popovyan
Casting by   Tatiana Krasinskaya
Costumes   Nina Martynova
Make up artist   Tatiana Kolomitseva
Executive producer   Marina Nedostup
PR-manager   Elena Podolskaya

Production

Russian title   Cherniy baran
Ehglish title    Black Lamb
Production   “Narodnoe Kino” Film Company
Production year & country   2009, Russia

Festivals

«Moscow premiere» film festival, 2010, Russia

«Smile, Russia!» film festival, 2010, Russia, a prize «For the kindest comedy of year»

Mumbai International Film Festival, “Panorama of World Cinema” section, 2010, India

Chennai International Film Festival, “Panorama of World Cinema” section, 2010, India

14th Budapest Russian Film Week, 2011, Hungary

«Festival of the Nations», Ebensee, 2011, Austria

Stalker International Film Festival, 2011, Russia

Review

On what, so it Russian culture can''t complain of traditional presence at it of laughter weepingly. It is its national brand, its specific feature generated by centuries. It is tradition leans against dramatic nature of human mutual relations and at the same time on ability to look at itself from outside. To look and see all comic party eternal and at first sight unsoluble contradictions. The film «Black Lamb» belongs to this tradition and develops it in critical situations of international relations and conflicts.

The film is made in a genre of a lyrical comedy in which people and their private relations appear most important. After all it is impossible instantly and for ever in one film to resolve all contradictions saved up by centuries.

The Caucasian family living on way of ancestors, inherits a car wash in Moscow. From mountain pastures they gets to capital - absolutely other world, other system of values. Naivety, trustfulness and desire to receive new friends turns around rigid repulse of inhabitants of Moscow. They see in visitors of strangers. Also can''t understand and accept their life together with their rams, with their vital rules. All laugh at visitors. Especially irritates surrounding their honoring of almost mythological figure of the grandfather. The family of newcomers passes through many tests. They are at war with gangsters who try to grasp a car wash. They battle to officials who want to take away from them the earth. They can''t find common language with watchman Nikolay Fedorovich. And the watchman is in horror from a kind and manners of the new owners.

Action develops a round dance of cheerful adventures. The son of the shepherd passionately falls in love. Grand daughters get acquainted with a big city and get to the most absurd situations. All it reminds popular in a fantasy motives of a meeting of the different civilizations . But everything, as well as should be in a kind comedy, comes to an end with a celebration of humanity, a brotherhood, mutual trust between people.

Verses of a final song

Madam the Parrot

Greetings dear comrades, glad to see you here
Up in th’Caucuses I have tended sheep for years
Now my Parrot here before you performs,
Parrot tells the fortunes, Parrot sings a song.

Tush-toushi, tush-toushi, Madam the Parrot
Tush-toushi, tush-toushi, Gimmi one ticket
Tush-toushi, tush-toushi, Madam the Parrot
Tush-toushi, tush-toushi, Gimmi one ticket

In one cage Parrot before you appears
In another cage his Mom’s shedding tears
Her she loves him dearly, her she is his Mom
Her she tragically wanna hug her son.

Now me and Parrot sing this to the end,
Then we go home and get into bed.
Him he has his heart ache, him he needs his sleep
Him he needs it urgently to have a nap indeed.

Tush-toushi, tush-toushi, Madam the Parrot
Tush-toushi, tush-toushi, Gimmi one ticket
Tush-toushi, tush-toushi, Madam the Parrot
Tush-toushi, tush-toushi, Gimmi one ticket