2019 | Fiction | 10 min. | Russia
Two lovers are having passionate sex in the penthouse of a Moscow skyscraper. But it's not so clear-cut. After all, what we call sex encompasses not just carnal pleasure, but also the main objective of our existence: the continuation of life. During our entire lives, from birth to death, each of us is trying to solve the problem of the purpose of our life on earth. However, it turns out that we're solving this problem—posed to us by some third party—not only from birth to death, but also after it... and before it, too. By the way, have you ever been present during your own conception?
Directors Statement
I once came across a quote from the Chinese philosopher Laozi, who said, "If you produced an idea, ridicule it." It's well-known that understanding the world and, most importantly, our place in this world is the primary question for all thinking people. There've been thousands of philosophical texts and millions of disputes about the meaning of our existence. Some of them are very interesting, plausible, and even shocking. But the real answer is not in those texts or disputes — it's much higher, in another dimension. And we can only speculate, since only our Creator knows the truth. I think that's why long before the modern era, Laozi had already resolved every past, present, and future philosophical debate with his concept of "ridicule". My film is another smile at this subject. “How curious — and even fun — it would be to be present during your own conception,” I thought. Of course, it wasn't easy to film the actors “getting it on“ while my philosophizing characters had their philosophical conversations in the background. After all, the actors playing the roles of these supposedly sexless souls were men! Seeing their colleagues portraying the conception process and directing this act in their heads, they would get so excited that they kept forgetting their lines. Then we had to pause the shoot. A lot of this was new for our film crew, and for me personally, as a screenwriter and director. I wanted to shoot sex scenes in a way that would make it clear to everyone that they were not the main focus of my cinematic storytelling. Everyone was very nervous: the actors and the film crew alike. The only people who were completely calm, confident, and professional were our two great actors — the black and white rabbits. They were calm and self-confident, as if they were the only ones who could understand everything that was happening in this mortal life. This made me wonder: who are the real rabbits in this world? That's it. Time for a good laugh.
Director: Boris Alexandrov
Producer: Boris Alexandrov
Сast: Ivan Zamotaev, Grigoriy Danziger, Ekaterina Fisun and Vitaly Ogarkov
