Two in One

Two in One is a fitting title for Kira Muratova’s film structured in two parts that intertwine with one another. Part one revolves around the suicide of an actor that takes place backstage at a theater during a New Year’s Eve performance. The death stirs up some trouble, but only minimally disrupts the evening’s scheduled events. Opening to a sold-out house, the performance provides a smooth transition into the film’s second part, which unfolds within the chambers of an elderly erotomaniac seeking a new object for his pleasures. Muratova tapped Bohdan Stupka, widely regarded as one of the greatest Ukrainian actors of his time (before serving briefly as Ukraine’s Minister of Culture), for the lead role and complemented his extraordinary performance by casting her favorite actresses: the larger-than-life Renata Litvinova and the neurotic Natalya Buzko, two familiar faces of her films from the 1990s and 2000s. Rights courtesy of Janus Films.