The Courtyard

The Courtyard

90 mins | Drama | March 8, 2000

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.

The Courtyard

90 mins | Drama | March 8, 2000

The Courtyard
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.
Producers ARTE France Cinéma, Les Films de L'Observatoire, Studio Uljana Kim
Original title Kiemas
Directors Valdas Navasaitis
Writers Valdas Navasaitis

Cast

Donatas Banionis

as The old man

Ričardas Vitkaitis

as Lorencas

Albinas Keleris

as Vladas

Tatyana Lyutaeva

as Elvyra

Rasa Samuolytė

as Veronika

Jūratė Aniulytė

as Old man's wife

Pranas Dapshkauskas

as The boy with long hair

Eglė Mikulionytė

as Lorenca's wife

Vytautas Serys

as Rygertas