A Well for the Thirsty (1965) poster
1965 · poetic · village · banned

A Well for the Thirsty

Directed by Yurii Illienko1h 13m1965
  • sombre
  • slow-burn
  • inventive
  • signature

A parable centering on an old man who lives a secluded life in the desert, alone with only his memories and photographs. His wellspring, once a source of joy and hope for thirsty passersby, is now rarely used. No longer able to find comfort in his memories, he turns all his photographs to face the walls.

Our read · A Well for the Thirsty (1965) reads as a sombre, slow-burn, surreal poetic · village · banned entry — measured in intensity, intimate in scope, measured in temperature, nihilistic in outlook, with a strong directorial signature. Hand-scored on twelve axes of taste — mood, pacing, weirdness, hope, stakes, humour, reality, density, warmth, auteur, intensity, and era — with a derived palette drawn from its dominant cinematography.

Cast
Dmytro MilyutenkoLarysa KadochnykovaFeodosiya LytvynenkoGemma FirsovaNina Alisova
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Availability in Latvia · via JustWatch

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The shape of A Well for the Thirsty

DNA · twelve axes

The reading.

Each axis is hand-scored — not derived from votes or genre averages. The marker shows where this film sits; the gradient fill uses the film's own cinematography palette.

Mood · HeavyCosy
Pacing · Slow-burnKinetic
Intensity · GentleExtreme
Weirdness · ConventionalSurreal
Hope · NihilisticRedemptive
Stakes · IntimateEpic
Humour · NoneBroad
Reality · GroundedFantastical
Density · SparseTwisty
Warmth · ColdTender
Auteur · TransparentSignature
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Geometric closeness in the twelve-axis space — pure DNA distance, not “people also liked.” Distance numbers are listed under each title for sceners who like to know the maths.

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