by Federico Greco

Sergei Bodrov’s latest film Bear's kiss [+see also:
trailer
film profile] heralds the Russian director’s return to the magical atmosphere of famous earlier film of his, The Prisoner of the Caucus.
Bear’s Kiss is the story of a young girl’s passage into adulthood and was made on location in various parts of Europe. It is also the story of an impossible love story between the girl, Lola, who was born and bred in a travelling circus, and the bear her parents gave her when it was still a cub. Now fully grown, the bear is Lola’s one faithful companion, and, after her mother’s departure, the only other living being she loves. So overwhelming is this love that in her mind, the bear is transformed into a fine young man. “After directing a variety of films, I wanted to make a fairy tale, a story of myth and magic. You can always find mystical aspects in our everyday lives and that is a good reason to keep an open mind and try to appreciate every single bit of reality,” said Bodrov.
Terrence Malick wrote the original story about a fantastic and surreal friendship between a girl and a bear. It was a film he tried to get made many times, but failed. Bodrov took over and worked on the screenplay with Carolyn Cavallero and finally, the film that the reclusive American film director had always dreamed about was reality.