Apocrypha

A segment meant for the portmanteau film "New York, I Love You" was eventually never included--possibly because it was too dark compared to the other selected segments. The Russian connect with New York is established early with a lady standing outside a block of apartments in New York asking a resident if that is where the Russian Nobel Prize winner Joseph Brodsky lived and the resident doesn't seem to recognize that name. Unlike the other segments of "New York, I Love You" this proposed segment (now available separately on youtube) is about a young man with a camera stumbling on an older couple who are lovers in the city and have to break their relationship. (The other segment left out was directed by Scarlet Johannsen, "These Vagabond Shoes" also with a dark outcome.) Cinematographer Mikhail Krichman, a constant collaborator of Zvyagintsev, is very impressive here as well.