An ironic documentary comedy about the residents of the island at the end of the world
Kunashir is one of the islands of the Kuril ridge. Until 1946, the Japanese and the Ainu people lived there, but one day they were evicted to their historical homeland by the Soviet authorities. Now fishermen and border guards live on the island. Only old buildings and the Japanese island of Hokkaido, which lies several kilometers away, are what reminds of the former owners. However, most of the Russian-speaking residents of Kunashir have never been to the latter. They rarely leave their island at all - it is expensive and time-consuming to get to the rest of Russia. But the islanders are not discouraged. Life among the sea and the stunning beauty of the Kuriles nature sets you in a philosophical mood. Military-patriotic holidays, as well as excavations of the remnants of the former Japanese civilization, also help not to get bored. If in his most famous film "Gagarinland", Vladimir Kozlov, a Frenchman with Belarusian roots, gently sneers at the symbols of the Soviet era, which are trying to get used to new, capitalistic, and market-oriented times and conditions, then in "Kunashir" the director, with all possible love for his heroes, tells about abandonment as a way things are and a way of thinking. The tiny society of Kunashir here serves as a metaphor for a large society that once broke away from the rest of the civilized world and is struggling to find its roots.
Original language: Russian Subtitles: English (by default)