The Nose

Director Barrie Kosky plunges us into a nightmarish, wildly exaggerated satire, with marching noses, rolling rickshaw tables, and caricatured protagonists in garish costumes that straddle folklore and historicism, all unfolding within a cold, bleak setting that feels claustrophobic despite its size. This surrealist story of the insecure and paranoid upstart Platon Kuzmich Kovalyov is transformed into a absurd, kaleidoscopic revue of the vanities, an unsettling collision of Wozzeck and Alice in Wonderland with its own ‘irrational’ logic.As in a dark nightmare, Kovalyov chases after his rebellious olfactory organ, but the police is notably absent and at the news desk where he wants to book an advertisement he is met with nothing but scorn and derision. He laments his fate in desperation. Through this hunt for the nose, a motley crew of people mutates into a hysterical mob, which finally succeeds in determining the fugitive’s whereabouts. The police inspector himself delivers it to the overjoyed collegiate assessor, but – oh my! – the defiant hooter doesn’t want to stay put. Kovalyov believes he was bewitched by Pelagia Grigorievna Podtochina, who considers Kovalyov a good catch for her daughter. He immediately writes her a reproachful letter. Upset by these allegations, Madame Podtochina rejects them in her response. As suddenly as the nose had vanished it unexpectedly returns to its place. Finally, Kovalyov can freely show himself in public again. He meets with Podtochina and her daughter, and imagines how he is once again going to flirt with the ladies. Now that everything is back in its place – hopefully … Read more Show less