The KGB was still rather active as the Soviet Union was collapsing, so this film, based on the script of an Armenian dissident who had spent four years in a labour camp and nine months in prison with waning health, who actually died during filming. A prisoner runs away and hides in a statue formed as a Hammer and a tickle, before a woman in the neghbourhood gives him nurses him, and then some. A terribly strong and gruesome film that makes a strong impact.
Yuri Ilyenko
Yuri Ilyenko is one of the great Ukrainian directors of 70s and 80s, and also worked as a cinematographer on such films as Sergei Parajanov's SHADOWS OF OUR FORGOTTEN ANCESTORS (1964). As a director, he is best known for films such as KRYNYTSYA DLYA SPRAHLYKH (1965), WHITE BIRD WITH A BLACK SPOT (1971), STRAW BELLS (1988) and SWAN LAKE: THE ZONE.
