Ayka

I saw this film , in gala opening of Cairo film festival , held in Egypt Its a film about the suffering of a helpless young woman...how to survive in a country she knows nothing about ...illegaly working and living in it... On so many levels the story line is moving...but my comment was why all the excessive details..and long scnes repeating the same thing over and ober It was more of a documentary film.... My second comment was the overdose of blood ...it needed to tone down abit in this regard Some people who watched it felt that the director did not utilse the story well... Also the actress ( who won best actress in Cannes film festival 2018) had the same expresion almost all the film..not much of acting as much as the story its self that deserved a prize

Quite a realistic film showing the life of migrant workers from the former Central Asian Soviet republics in modern "humane" Russia. The aesthetic pleasure the film does not deliver, but view it still makes sense.

With 'Ayka', director Sergei Dvortsevoy has proven to be a contemporary master of the classic impetus of Russian art: depicting the depths of human suffering, despair, and the lengths at which one might go to simply remain alive. Leading actress Samal Yeslyamova goes beyond mere acting and gloriously succeeds in telling her story through minimal dialogue and maximal emotional performance. The story does stumble a bit throughout the first act, but it is sufficiently augmented by a gripping third act and an emotionally draining ending.

"Ayka" is the main festival success of the year of Russian cinema. The director of the film, Sergei Dvortsevoy, worked for 7 long years about 7 short days in inhospitable Moscow of a woman migrant worker. A barely standing pregnant woman is struggling for life with all her strength, taking on any hard work. Absolutely fair award for the best female role of the Cannes Film Festival went to the wonderful Kazakh actress Samal Eslyamova. Sad fact: the Ministry of Culture of Russia annually distributes a huge amount of money for mediocre films, but can not forgive the debt of the director of this film, which glorified Russia.

Ayka, the striking movie of Sergei Dvortsevoy, presents not only such a powerfull sense of reality, but also an excellent cinematographical narration!

Every lovers of realist cinema should see this movie. Ayka promises for a rarely seen movie pleasure in addition to hard criticism on true horrible examples of actual poverty experiences.