The Courtyard

Story

Synopsis

The first feature of Lithuanian Valdas Navasaitis is a drama which unravels the hopeless 1970s, when people were deprived of their roots and forced to sit and watch their lives slip from their fingers. In a decrepit house that once belonged to a bourgeois family, several families seek shelter. Senis, a 65-year-old alcoholic, lives on the ground floor with his wife and their 16-year-old daughter. Senis is a survivor of the Nazis as well as the communist camps. He drowns the pain of his memories in a nearby pub and in talking to a depressed young laborer, Lorenca. Later on, a young couple and a lonely eccentric who enjoys only his cat's company join the inhabitants. Children wile away the time with useless games or spying on adults. When Lorenca hangs himself at the ruins of a nearby factory, the lives are shaken up. During the dinner held for the deceased, they find a moment of common hope.

Director

Valdas Navasaitis

Writers

Valdas Navasaitis

Language

Lithuanian

Country

France, Lithuania

Release date

8 March 2000

Ensemble

Cast

• 

  Donatas Banionis

  The old man

• 

  Ričardas Vitkaitis

  Lorencas

• 

  Albinas Keleris

  Vladas

• 

  Tatyana Lyutaeva

  Elvyra

• 

  Rasa Samuolytė

  Veronika

• Jūratė Aniulytė

  Old man's wife

• Pranas Dapshkauskas

  The boy with long hair

• 

  Eglė Mikulionytė

  Lorenca's wife

• Vytautas Serys

  Rygertas

• 

  Dalia Michelevičiūtė

  Woman