Dzhoy i Druzhok is a strange, quiet movie about a girl and her dog

If you have a soft spot for movies where nothing much happens but everything feels heavy, then Dzhoy i Druzhok might be for you.

It’s mostly for people who like dogs and don't mind a bit of a sad, dusty atmosphere. If you need explosions or people talking fast, you are going to absolutely hate this thing.

The movie is about a girl named Joy and her dog, Druzhok. Honestly, the dog is a better actor than half the people I see on TV these days.

Fatima Gilyazova has this way of looking at the camera that makes you feel like you’ve done something wrong. She doesn't say much, but her eyes are just huge and sort of haunting.

There is one scene where she's just sitting at a wooden table with a bowl of soup. The silence goes on for so long you start checking if your speakers died. 🐕

It’s not like those polished Hollywood movies where every hair is in place. Everything looks a bit gray and the sound is kind of scratchy, but it works for the story.

I kept thinking about R-1 while watching this. Mostly because of how the camera just sits there and waits for the actors to do something, rather than forcing the action.

The script by Mirian Khukhunashvili and Vladimir Petrov feels like it was written on a napkin during a rainy afternoon. It’s very sparse, which I actually liked.

There’s a moment where Pyotr Kuznetsov’s character walks into a room and just sighs. That’s basically the whole vibe of the second act. Just a lot of sighing and looking out of windows.

I liked the way the dog looked at the birds. It felt real, you know? Like they didn't have a trainer off-screen with a treat, the dog was just... being a dog.

Sometimes the editing is a bit jumpy. One second they are in the house, and the next they are halfway across a field with no explanation of how they got there.

It reminded me of the weird pacing in Don't Play Hookey. You feel like you missed a page of the script because the scene just cuts off mid-thought.

The music is... well, it’s barely there. When it does show up, it’s this lonely sounding piano that feels like it’s being played in the next room over.

I think Shura Zavialov has maybe three lines in the whole thing. His face does alot of the work, though he looks like he'd rather be anywhere else.

There’s this one shot of a rusty gate that stays on screen for about fifteen seconds too long. You can almost hear the director breathing behind the lens. It becomes funny if you think about it too much.

The movie gets noticeably better once you stop waiting for a plot to happen. Once you just accept that it's about a girl and a dog walking around, it's quite nice.

I noticed that Joy’s sweater has a hole in the left sleeve that keeps getting bigger as the movie goes on. Nobody mentions it. It’s just a thing that's happening.

Fyodor Bogdanov plays his role with this weird stiffness. It’s like he’s afraid he’s going to break the furniture if he moves too fast.

The way the sunlight hits the dust in the air during the barn scene was actually pretty beautiful. It reminded me of the lighting in Out of the Ruins, but way less dramatic.

I dont know if this was supposed to be a movie for kids. If it was, those kids must have been very patient or very depressed.

There's a scene with a piece of bread that Druzhok tries to steal. The way the dog looks at the bread is the most tension I've felt in a moive all year. 🥖

Boris Litkin shows up later and he looks like he's actually tired. Not just "movie tired" with perfect eye bags, but like he hasn't slept in three days.

The relationship between Joy and the adults is so awkward. They talk over her head like she’s a piece of furniture, which is probably how it really felt back then.

It’s a bit messy, and some of the transitions are just bad, but I didn't mind. I’d rather watch a moive that’s a bit broken than one that feels like it was made by a computer.

The ending doesn't really wrap things up in a neat bow. It just kind of... stops. Which is fine, I guess, because life is kind of like that too.

If you find a copy of this, watch it on a Sunday when you have nothing else to do. It’s a quiet little thing that stays with you, even if you can’t quite explain why. 🍂

I still think about the way the dog's paws sounded on the dry dirt. It was so loud in the sound mix, like they really wanted you to hear the crunch of every step.

Anyway, it's a good moive if you're in the right mood. Just don't expect it to cheer you up or give you any answers.