A ROOM AND A HALF
aka POLTORY KOMNATY ILI SENTIMENTALNOE PUTESHESTVIE NA RODINU

Year: 2009
USA: Seagull Films
UK: Yume Pictures
Cast: Grigoriy Dityatkovskiy, Alisa Frejndlikh, Aleksandr Bargman, Sergei Barkovsky, Aleksei Devotchenko, Sergey Dreiden, Svetlana Kryuchkova Aleksandr Lenkov, Nikolay Marosanov, Vladimir Rozygraev, Artyom Smola, Sergei Yursky
Director: Andrey Khrzhanovskiy
Country: Russia
Language: Russian (English subtitles)
USA: 130 mins
UK: 129 mins
UK Certificate: 12A contains one use of strong language
USA Release Date: 20 January 2010 (Limited Release)
UK Release Date: 7 May 2010 (Limited Release)
UK Release Date: 21 May (Limited Release â€" Scotland)


Synopsis

Russian poet Joseph Brodsky (played by Grigoriy Dityatkovskiy) sought exile in the United States in 1972 and fearing for his safety could only envisage returning to his homeland if "such a journey could only take place anonymously..."

In A ROOM AND A HALF, the filmmakers speculate that the journey in question was undertaken after all, and recount their version as a satirical fairytale, where the poet sails to the country of his childhood, and carries the audience along with him as he traverses not only geographical expanses, but travels through time as well.

Combining a number of facts from the Nobel Prize Laureate's biography, the film returns to the USSR of the 50s and early 60s, soaking up the atmosphere of the "European" city of Petersburg, which to this day is still Russia's cultural center. Together with live-action sequences, the film features animation, as well as documentary footage concerning Brodsky and his background.