‘Beanpole’: Cannes-Winning Post-WWII Drama is Both Grueling and Fascinating [Trailer]

The first trailer for the award-winning Cannes film, “Beanpole.”

I saw director Kantemir Balagov’s “Beanpole” at Cannes, and in my review, I said, “In a film that is so disinterested to conforming to accustomed mainstream movie audiences taste and rhythms, and is committed to its sometimes difficult choices, the bold and exacting ‘Beanpole’ sometimes feels damn-near radical.”

“Beanpole” tells the excruciatingly grim story of two women dealing with the post-WWII trauma in the Soviet Union, as they work in a hospital filled with traumatized soldiers. Things only get worse for our two female protagonists after one of them is involved in an unspeakable tragedy.

“Beanpole” stars Viktoria Miroshnichenko, Vasilisa Perelygina, and Konstantin Balakirev.. The drama comes from 28-year-old Russian director Balagov, who won Un Certain Regard’s Best Director prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Previous to that, the filmmaker’s “Closeness” was heralded as well at Cannes, but I prefer “Beanpole” to that less-successful film. Balagov is more in tune with his creative mojo here, more confident with the way he wants this intricate story to unfold.

“Beanpole” arrives in theaters on January 19, 2020.