

A man who stuffs dead animals for a living finally gets stuffed by his wife's nagging.
Zhora Sorokarossiysky, a well-known master of stuffed birds and animals, is essentially patient and kind. But his wife's overbearing character and her endless scolding about his strange work once awakened in him the desire to leave home.
Acting
Georgi Burkov's weary, bird-like patience as Zhora.
Writing
Dialogue that weaponizes everyday domestic cruelty.

Director
Georgi Burkov
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Co-director Georgi Burkov cast himself as Zhora after no other actor could capture the specific energy of 'defeated ornithological romantic.'
Released during perestroika, this was one of the first Soviet films to suggest that systemic oppression might also exist inside a kitchen between two people.