Beanpole(2020)

Plot Summary

• The film begins in Leningrad shortly after the conclusion of the Second World War and focuses on two women, Iya Sergueeva, a tall blonde woman nicknamed "Beanpole" (Dylda)(played by Viktoria Miroshnichenko) and Masha (played by Vasilisa Perelygina). The film begins with Iya suffering from a PTSD episode in which she involuntarily freezes up while working as a nurse in a hospital under Dr. Nikolay Ivanovich (Andrey Bykov). Iya is caring for her son Pashka in a communal apartment but accidentally smothers him to death when she suffers another episode while playing with him. Shortly afterwards Masha returns from the front and reveals that Pashka was not actually Iya's child, but Masha's. Masha had given birth to Pashka while at war, and had given him to Iya for safekeeping while she was away. Masha asks to see Pashka but correctly guesses that Pashka is dead through Iya's quiet distress.Bitter yet seemingly unfazed, Masha invites Iya out dancing, though they soon find that the dance hall is closed due to the war. Sasha, the young son of a wealthy local official and his friend noticed the girls and introduce themselves, eventually drinking and talking in Sasha's car. Masha orders Iya out of the car to go on a "walk" with Sasha's friend so Masha can have sex with Sasha in the back seat. Iya attacks Sasha's friend when he attempts to seduce her, and beats Sasha over the head when she finds him having sex with Masha. The next day, Iya notices Masha's hysterectomy scar and Masha tells her that she wanted to have sex with Sasha, and that she wants to have a child to heal her.Masha soon applies to work at the same hospital as Iya, revealing to doctor Nikolai Ivanovich that she and Iya served together in an anti-aircraft gun crew but Iya was eventually discharged after suffering a traumatic head wound, while Masha continued serving in the army "to Berlin". Shortly afterwards, the wife of a paralyzed WW2 soldier, Stepan (played by Konstantin Balakirev) arrives at the hospital to find her husband alive, despite having already told her children that he had been killed in the war. Stepan cannot bear the idea of returning to his children as a quadriplegic and, alongside his wife, begs Nikolai Ivanovich to euthanize him instead. Nikolai Ivanovich is at first extremely opposed to the idea, but eventually relents, asking Iya to do the job and indicating it will be the "last time". Iya hesitantly agrees and during one night injects Stepan with a fatal dosage of morphine, smoking a cigarette for him and blowing it into his mouth until he dies. Masha, on night watch and suffering from chronic fatigue due to the war, laid down to rest in a nearby cot shortly beforehand and watches Iya and Stepan.Masha uses this case of illegal euthanasia as blackmail against both Iya and Nikolai Ivanovich, and devises a plan in which Iya will be impregnated by Nikolai Ivanovich, with Masha raising the child as her own, in a warped surrogacy agreement. When Iya initially refuses, Masha reminds her that she is "owed" a child from Iya after she let Pashka die in her care. Nikolai Ivanovich, fearing for his career, also agrees, and the two have sex next to Masha in bed. Masha continues to see Sasha afterwards, frustrating Iya, who seems to have feelings for Masha. Iya soon finds out that she is not actually pregnant, and instead just had a late period, but she neglects to tell Masha. While trying on a dress for their seamstress neighbor, Masha begins to twirl repeatedly while suffering a mental breakdown. Iya calms Masha by kissing her. Masha initially fights her off but Iya suffers another paralytic episode, during which Masha kisses her in return. Later, after an argument in which Iya orders Sasha to stop coming to their apartment with food, Sasha invites Masha to meet his parents. Iya, distraught, walks to Nikolai Ivanovich's house and tearfully begs him to sleep with her to successfully impregnate her. Nikolai Ivanovich turns down her advances, but invites her to come with him and leave the city.Masha visits Sasha's parents at their large estate, but receives a cold response by his parents, who seem to judge her for serving in the Red Army, considering her an "army base wife". Masha reveals the truth of her time in the war, saying that she did what she had to do to survive, sleeping with soldiers capable of providing for her and protecting her from others. Masha reveals that her abdominal scar was not caused by a combat injury as she first described, but from a number of abortions she had on the front lines. She asserts that she loves Sasha, and will have a child, given to her from Iya. Sasha's mom responds with respect and admiration for Masha's time in the war, and says that she does not dislike Masha, but instead fears she will be treated badly by Sasha, who has known only their wealthy lifestyle and would quickly grow bored and eventually discard her. Sasha, enraged, storms out of the room and Masha rides the tram home alone.On the way home, Masha's tram hits and kills a tall blonde woman on the street. Masha pushes through the crowd but is unable to recognize the woman mangled underneath the tram. Fearing the worst, Masha runs home only to find Iya sitting alone in the apartment. Masha promises Iya that Sasha is gone, and that they will have a good life and raise a healthy child together. The two weep together in an embrace as the film ends.

Storyline

• 1945, Leningrad. World War II has devastated the city, demolishing its buildings and leaving its citizens in tatters, physically and mentally. Although the siege - one of the worst in history - is finally over, life and death continue their battle in the wreckage that remains. Two young women, Iya and Masha, search for meaning and hope in the struggle to rebuild their lives amongst the ruins. 26-year-old Kantemir Balagov follows TESNOTA, winner of the FIPRESCI Prize at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, with a powerful period drama. In the aftermath of the devastating World War II, on the battle-scarred carcass of 1945 Leningrad, the pale and shy young nurse of the city's veterans hospital, Iya, finds herself grappling with increasingly regular fits of post-traumatic stress disorder. As tall as a giraffe, Iya has earned the funny nickname, Beanpole; however, the sudden arrival of her only friend, Masha, a damaged female soldier who has just returned from the front, will soon become the painful reminder that, even though the enemy is gone forever, the war is far from over yet. Now, against the backdrop of post-apocalyptic scenes of destruction and death, two troubled young survivors attempt to start their lives from scratch, bury the nightmarish past, and find solace in friendship. Will the unresolved traumas of peace ever heal? — Nick Riganas