Set in a shabby Soviet apartment in the 1950s/60s, the film introduces us to Katya (Marina Kuklis) and Tanya (Lidiya Shumilova). Katya is a brilliant, volatile mathematician who has been fired from her institute. Tanya is her lover, caretaker, and emotional hostage.
Critics have rightly questioned the production. Actress Ekaterina Gulyanich has since stated that while she consented to the scene’s framework, the emotional toll was extreme. The film blurs the line between the fictional power dynamic (Tanya dominating Katya) and the real-world power dynamic (the director’s omnipotence over his performers).
Reviews for the film are highly polarized, often reflecting broader feelings toward the entire DAU experiment :
The plot centers on (played by Ekaterina Yuspina), a young librarian working within the secretive, top-secret Institute of Physics Problems. Forms of Female Subjectivity in “DAU. Katya Tanya”
4.5/5 stars
While Ilya Khrzhanovsky is the primary creator, Jekaterina Oertel (often credited as Katya Oertel) served as a key co-director and makeup designer for many of the films, including this one. If you're looking for more specific information, Information on where to stream or watch the film?
Ultimately, DAU. Katya Tanya is the DAU project in microcosm: brilliant, repulsive, and impossible to ignore. It will make you angry. It should. But if art’s purpose is to provoke a reaction, to make you question the contract between viewer and screen, then this film succeeds. The real question is whether the price of that ticket—paid by Katya, Tanya, and your own conscience—is one you are willing to accept.
Get insightful contents, problem-solving tips, and all the updates right at your doorstep!