A screening of Tuvalu will be held at the Heritage House on Sunday as part of the Russian and International Film Series, held the second Sunday of the month.
Review for Tuvalu:
Called a mixture of “Chaplin by way of Delicatessen and Metropolis”, Tuvalu is a fable told with dreamlike images in the mode of a silent film. The story revolves around a popular, but rapidly decaying, public swimming pool. The pool is housed in a building which rises like a cathedral in the middle of a vast wasteland filled with beached ships and industrial debris.
Three people live in the bathhouse: the blind father who longs for times past, the long-suffering mother who runs the box office, and their simple-minded son Anton (Denis Lavant), who has never ventured outside. Anton serves as the caretaker of the bathhouse, but longs for an escape from the drudgery of his job — to the paradise isle of Tuvalu.
It appears that the government will make good on its threat to shut down and demolish the bathhouse to build apartments, until the lovely Eva (Chulpan Hamatova) comes to live there with her father, bringing a breath of life and determination into Anton’s world.
The film is preceded by a potluck meal at 5 p.m. with other film enthusiasts and members of Chattanooga's Russian community. The film itself will get underway at 6 p.m. and runs an hour and a half. It is presented with English subtitles.
The film is not rated but contains adult material (some nudity and suggestive situations) and parents are strongly cautioned.