The laureates of the 33rd International Moscow Film Festival were announced last July 2. They included ‘Anarchy in Žirmūnai’, the movie by Saulius Drunga.
This movie was a participant in the competitive Perspectives program of the festival featuring début movies by film directors beginning their creative work in films. ‘Anarchy in Žirmūnai’ was recognized the best creative work by a Perspectives participant. The single main prize, a St. George statuette, was awarded to the director.
The judges of the Perspectives program films at the festival were Serbian film critic Miroljub Vučkovič, Russian director Aleksandr Kott and film director from Kazakhstan Ermek Shinarbayev.
The official critic for the festival’s website, Alexey Vasiliev presented the movie as an intriguing detective film. He wrote:
“The detective-like plot development is what fuels our interest in the movie, the title of which includes the word “anarchy” and the name of the dormitory district in
Vilnius dating back to the late Soviet period. On the soundtrack we hear the phrase ‘Lithuanian mess’ at least a couple of dozens of times.”
Actress Toma Vaškevičiūtė is the anchor of the movie. She is reminiscent of the young Di Caprio in the movies Growing Pains and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape not only on a superficial level but also by her ironically half-closed eyes. By the way she acts the absent-minded beauty, she signals the mental processes of her heroine – the detective against her own will (...).
This movie about the “Lithuanian mess” is relevant at any time and in any country, when it talks about schooling as light and the lack of schooling as darkness.
