A Favour

1983 0h 11m UK

👍

6.5

SOLID

★6.5TMDB · 2

Animation

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Mistress Hen has a lot of worries every day. She needs to feed the chickens, take them to kindergarten, clean, iron, and prepare dinner. But how to cook something without salt? Hen goes to the neighbor Goose to borrow salt, but she asks to do her a favour. A simple request triggers a whole cascade of favours that must be arranged to get...salt. The cartoon satirically mirrors the rampant barter and blat in the poor Soviet society of the late "stagnation" era.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

Nadiia Kondratovska
(voice)
Liudmyla Tomashevska
(voice)
Olena Huzeyeva
(voice)
Borys Vozniuk
(voice)
Davyd Babaiev
(voice)

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Oleksandr Viken
Writers: Alexander Kostinsky
Languages: Ukrainian
Countries: Soviet Union

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Tight 11-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

43 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Oleksandr Viken, shot by Anatolii Havrylov. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Vladimir Bystryakov. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Yuna Sribnytska shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Nadiia Kondratovska and Liudmyla Tomashevska and Olena Huzeyeva carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt7026888 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Oleksandr Viken directs. Anatolii Havrylov behind the camera. Vladimir Bystryakov scores. Yuna Sribnytska cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in Soviet Union. Dialogue in Ukrainian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Tight 11-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.
243 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
4Directed by Oleksandr Viken, shot by Anatolii Havrylov. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Vladimir Bystryakov. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Yuna Sribnytska shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Nadiia Kondratovska and Liudmyla Tomashevska and Olena Huzeyeva carry the top of the cast.
8IMDB entry: tt7026888 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Only 2 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.