Noah Taylor is Jack, a young man who is obsessed by the lives of the great Russian writers. He wanders through a dreamscape in which reality entwines with characters from Dostoevsky, Tolstoy and Gogol. Penniless in a cold and bleak West Berlin, he falls in love with Elena, (Solveig Dommartin), who in his fevered imagination comes to represent Dostoevsky’s pure and ill-treated Sasha. Over the course of a magical night in Berlin, Jack, Elena and her friend Johanna search the alleys and autobahns of Berlin seeking love, solace and the promise of redemption. This idosyncratic and romantic Australian film is a lyrical celebration of human contact and communion.
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How to watch
Collection
In ACMI's collection
Credits
Collection metadata
ACMI Identifier
305273
Language
English
Subject categories
Feature films → Feature films - Australia
Literature → Dostoyevsky, Fyodor, 1821-1881
Literature → Russian literature
Literature → Tolstoy, Leo, Graf, 1828-1910
Sound/audio
Sound
Colour
Black and White
Holdings
VHS; Access Print (Section 1)