Filmed in 1965 and just as contemporary now as it was then, Yuri Ilyenko’s directorial debut, A SPRING FOR THE THIRSTY, is a surreal cinematic poem from the cinematographer of Sergei Paradzhanov’s SHADOWS OF FORGOTTEN ANCESTORS. As director-cinematographer of A SPRING FOR THE THIRSTY, Ilyenko has created a parable centering on an old man who lives a secluded life in the desert, alone with only his memories and photographs. His wellspring, once a source of joy and hope for thirsty passersby, is now rarely used. No longer able to find comfort in his memories, he turns all his photographs to face the walls.
Director: Yuri Ilenko. AKA A Spring for the Thirsty / Криниця для спраглих.
Writer: Ivan Drach.
Stars: Dmitri Milyutenko, Larisa Kadochnikova, Feodosiya Litvinenko, Nina Alisova, Dzhemma Firsova, Ivan Kostyuchenko, Evgeniy Baliev, Yuriy Mazhuga, Yelena Kovalenko, Konstantin Ershov, Nataliya Mishchenko, Vladimir Lemport, Nikolai Silis, Grigoriy Basenko.
Poetic, melancholic film, mostly in Ukrainian – with the usual terrible subtitles. It is possible to write good subtitles only if you are translating into your own first language. (But at least there were no wannas or gonnas that erupt like boils on Netflix!)
Wonderful photography.
Read the ‘top review’ on IMdB before watching (and maybe afterwards, too).