The Long Farewell (1971)

The Story

AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE OF THE 4K RESTORATION

"Hard to imagine a director working in the former Soviet Union who's more than transgressive." – Jonathan Rosenbaum

Banned for nearly twenty years until Perestroika in 1987, Kira Muratova’s riveting family drama is now hailed as a lost masterpiece. The Soviets first saw her story of a divorced mother in Odessa fighting to hold on to a son who desires to live with his father in Novosibirsk, as "incompatible with the aesthetic desires of Socialist Realism". Muratova, one of the most important, if unknown, female directors in cinema history, completed 23 feature films in a career spanning 50 years. This is a very rare opportunity to see one of her greatest works, recently restored in 4K.

“Like watching the fourth Karamazov brother’s life once Dostoevsky was reincarnated as a filmmaker.” — Loz Loory

“…a kind of Jeanne Dielman of Odessa; since the departure of her husband, her hard-working life revolves around caring for her son Sasha – caring for him, dominating him, and keeping him as a little child.” — Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive

The 10:45am screening on Saturday 29 April will be introduced by Margot Nash, filmmaker and a Visiting Fellow in Communications at the University of Technology Sydney.

Watch a remarkable tribute to Kira Muratova produced by Ukrainian television to mark her death in 2019, here.

Rating

Unclass15

Duration

97 min

Cast

Zinaido Sharko, Oleg Vladimirsky, Yuriy Kayurov

Director

Kira Muratova