“Marry Me” By Eugen Merher
Synopsis
In post-soviet Ukraine, Vadik has to reassess his mother’s love advice when he meets Masha.
Directors statement
For me, this short is a testament to the power of love, even in the most adverse conditions. I have always found myself in a mad search for the meaning of love in my own life, and it hasn’t been easy so far. By making this short, I wanted to follow my gut and find this meaning through imagery instead of words and through my love for visceral filmmaking.
The main image that came to my mind early in the process was a couple performing their wedding dance while being pierced by bullets. Their love for each other in that moment would be so strong that it protects them from crumbling to death. I know, this sounds overly romantic and cliché – and I can't help but love that idea.
One of my favorite moments in the film is when Masha talks in a rage about a burger and violently tosses it out of the car, while Vadik is simply staring at her cracked lips, her mad eyes – helplessly falling in love. Seeing beauty in someone's ugliest moments means true love for me, I think.
The Eastern European setting (Kyiv, Ukraine) came as a natural idea to us for this story because it’s close to where I grew up and I wanted to explore this theme with local actors in my mothers tongue – Russian.
Credits
Starring Yelyzaveta Tsilyk & Pavlo Aldoshyn
Produced by Philip Chrobot
Written & Directed by Eugen Merher
Director of Photography: Mortimer Hochberg
Assistant Producer: Lukas Bäuerle
Casting: Kseniya Dezera
Editor: Ernst Lattik
Music Composition: Alexander Wolf David
Singers: Denis Elmaci & Annika Hatje
Sound Design: Robin Harff & Floyd Fürstenau
Production Design: Sonya Gryn
Costume Design: Viktoriia Filipova
Make Up Artist: Helga Dubrovska
SFX: Alexandr Suvorov
Stunt Coordination: Fedor Staryk
Colorist: Marina Starke
VFX: Eleven Post Production
Post Production Supervisor: Johannes Reinhardt
Compositing: Maris Polis, Alexander Von Der Lippe
1st AD: Daria Drykina
B-Camera: Bohdan Kinashchuk
1st AC: Roman Plakhotnik
2nd AC: Vitaly Bass
Additional AC: Nataliia Kyselova
Technocrane provided by Filmotechnic
Crane Operator: Aleksander Simontovskiy
Assistant Operators: Vasilij Boiko & Sergei Maksakov
Casting Assistant: Liubomir Dezera
Extras Casting Assistant: Katya Malinovskaya
Sound Recordist: Danila Okulov
Sound Assistant: Yevgeniya Yevdokimenko
Foley Recordist: Johanna Roth & Max Hartstang
Stunt Rigging Master: Svytoslav Barabolia
Riggers: Alexandr Zagudaev & Alexandr Labuzinskiy
Stuntmen: Vladislav Velichkovsky, Tatiana Law, Alexander Pavlik
SFX Assistants: Vladimir Suvorov, Sergey Mogilenets
Make Up Assistant: Kseniya Tumanova
Still Photographer: Christoph Köstlin
Making of: Alina Haravska
Set Dressers: Svyatoslav Nahorniuk & Polina Yakovleva
Prop Master Vehicles: Elisey Babichenko
Prop Master Police Unit: Yuri Guzovskiy
Location Manager: Dima Shevchenko
Set Manager: Georgiy Egorov
“Marry Me” was submitted to us by Eugen Merher. Have a film of your own you’d like us to check out? Click here!