The Fool (2014, Russia) - Film Screening and Discussion

Presented by RACC in collaboration with the Russian and Slavic Studies Program, Hunter College, CUNY

About the movie

The Fool (2014, Director: Yuriy Bykov) tells the story of one man’s fight against a corrupt political system. Dima is a young man eking out a living in modern day Russia as a plumber’s assistant while working to finish college. Called out late one night to inspect a leak at a derelict housing community, he discovers a major structural problem in a building on the verge of collapse. In his attempt to save the lives of the eight hundred residents, Dima will find himself drawn into a world of dark secrets and cancerous corruption, where politicians and power players live by their own code and where tragic consequences are but a grim afterthought.

The film is an explosive combination of highly personal moral drama and a wider, scathing portrait of a country in which corruption and greed seem to be the only shared values left. This well-oiled narrative machine is further aided by a clever ticking-clock mechanism that actually ratchets up the tension the longer the characters’ vodka-soaked, blame-game speeches are allowed to go on. 

Introduction by Emil Draitser, Professor Emeritus, Hunter College

 Attention:  To reach the lecture hall on time, please allow at least 15-20 min time after you check in at Hunter Hospitality Desk in the West Lobby (entrance next to the outdoor sculpture at the SW corner of Lexington Avenue and 68th Street; subway line #6).  After getting to the 3rd floor by the escalator, take the overpass to Hunter North Building and veer left to the stairs (or elevators), which will take you to the 5th Floor. When your reach it, go right to the farther end of the corridor, then turn left.  The entrance to the Auditorium 510 Hunter North is the last door on your left. The screening starts at 6:45 PM promptly. 

Free of charge

RACC's events are made possible in part with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council, and Cojeco.