Eastern Drift

Eastern Drift
Eastern Drift
	Film poster
Lithuanian	Eurazijos aborigenas
French	Indigène d'Eurasie
Directed by	Šarūnas Bartas
Written by	Šarūnas Bartas; Catherine Paillé
Produced by	Grégoire Debailly
Cinematography	Šarūnas Bartas
Edited by	Danielius Kokanauskis
Music by	Alexander Zekke
Release date	11 February 2010 (Berlinale);
Running time	111 minutes
Countries	Lithuania; France; Russia
Languages	French; Lithuanian; Russian

Eastern Drift is a 2010 Lithuanian crime film directed by Šarūnas Bartas, starring Bartas and Klavdiya Korshunova. Its Lithuanian title is Eurazijos aborigenas and its French title is Indigène d'Eurasie, which means "Eurasian native". It tells the story of a drug smuggler who wants to quit, but is betrayed and tries to flee, together with his prostitute ex-girlfriend, from Moscow to France through Belarus and Lithuania. The film premiered in the Forum section of the 60th Berlin International Film Festival.^[1]

Cast

Šarūnas Bartas as Gena
Klavdiya Korshunova as Sasha
Erwan Ribard as Philippe
Elisa Sednaoui as Gabrielle
Aurélien Vernhes-Lermusiaux as Aurélien

Reception

Neil Young wrote in The Hollywood Reporter: "The fact that Bartas -- no oil-painting -- has co-devised a scenario where he's lusted after by two gorgeous babes may strike many as narcissistic. Ditto his decision to give himself numerous close-ups and to show off his wiry physique in a nude scene that allows contemplation of his trim buttocks. ... Taken as a whole, however, there is something quietly persuasive and cumulatively engaging about Eastern Drift, not least the way it depicts a Europe that seems to have become progressively 'Russified' since the early 1990s. Bartas finds grey, bleak corners of every city he comes across, often with ironically inappropriate terms like 'Eldorado' and 'Shangri-La' spelled out in Cyrillic neon on building fronts."^[2] Variety's Leslie Felperin wrote: "With the nicely shot but messily assembled thriller Eastern Drift, a French-Lithuanian-Russian co-prod, Lithuanian helmer-writer-lenser-thesp Sharunas Bartas further demonstrates, after Seven Invisible Men, that he should stick to camera operating. ... Dire editing, Bartas’ inability to shoot action, act himself or direct thesps all create a tedious excursion."^[3]