Brief Encounters

Kira Muratova’s highly original solo debut angered censors over its portrayal of a society not quite as spotlessly socialist as advertised, and it was quickly shelved after the lowest possible distribution. A seemingly successful city functionary (Muratova) spends her night listlessly procrastinating between speech writing and dish washing until a young woman unexpectedly appears, looking to work as a maid; she’s also the lover of the bureaucrat’s husband, a wandering, guitar-playing geologist (Russian folk singer/cult hero Vladimir Vysotsky). Filmed with quiet delicacy and a stylishly avant-garde aesthetic, Brief Encounters is concerned neither with socialism nor with the state, but with how people—and especially women—find community in a world reluctant to offer it.