Shultes

The introvert young man Shultes lives with his mother in a gloomy Moscow suburb. He suffers from amnesia, and lives a life of strictly mechanical routines consisting of running, playing slot machines and watching television. His existence is based on pick pocketing, an art he is perfecting with his ten-year-old recruit Kostik. Indistinguishable days pass by. Not even the death of his mother seems to affect Shultes emotions. But through some strange circumstances, a fragment of his background is finally exposed, cutting through the dense mist of his memory loss.

Bakur Bakuradze’s first fiction feature is a bleak meditation on harsh human conditions, much in the tradition of Kieslowski. Stylistically, we are treated to a static camera, minimal use of music and barely any dialogue, which renders the film hypnotic. Shultes seem to do everything with the same lack of enthusiasm, whether it’s watching television, visiting his brother or having sex. His void of emotions and memories can be seen as an allegory of a traumatized post-Soviet society, stripped of its identity and history.