Irina Markova's life and passion is the training of poodles to perform during her show in the circus, with them performing various routines and stunts while in costumes. This film spends a little time with her and sees her performances while learning more about her life. I read that the director of this short film met Irina while working on another idea but decided to follow her instead. I am pretty sure Vince Malone does not speak Russian either because I also read that this film was made in under a week but most of it was without a translator – which must have been a challenge given that for 99% of the film Irina is speaking Russian.
If this was a problem it doesn't show in the film (although I am curious how he edited down footage – did he have to translate everything he shot to find what was good?). The discussions with Irina are honest and determined. We get some very personal memories but not too much detail generally – just enough to understand her character a little bit. Outside of the specifics we hear of a determined woman with a passion and a love for this very odd activity. Essentially this is a quirkumentary but it never treats the subject as only a quirky one but rather lets it be and shares it with the viewer. The shots of the training and the shows are well used as a bed under and around discussions and it is good to both hear of Irina's passion and also see the skill and work paying off in the performances (which are actually really good in the clips we see).
It is a fleeting character piece and it doesn't go too deep, but it is engaging and drives itself off the character of Irina, which is warm, passionate, odd and honest. A well-chosen character for a film and Malone builds the film well around her.
