Periodically, artist Shaburov finds himself appearing in films directed by acquaintances—purely to subject himself to unusual challenges.
The next film was titled «The Stop.» One of the characters decided to sit at a bus stop in the middle of the street and never go home. The reason was never explained to the audience. But it soon turned out that the main character wasn’t him, but his friend, who meanwhile fell into a coma and lay in that state for half the film, dancing to imaginary disco music.
On the way to the set, Shaburov discovered he had to portray the father of the comatose hero and deliver a long, emotionally charged monologue over his body—something he had never done before.
He had to mask his lack of skill and talent with various props.
The character was named Mark Naumovich, and Shaburov happened to have a kippah (a yarmulke, in common speech) in his pocket because his character turned into a religious Jew, and somehow, a bald one. The coronavirus was raging outside the window, so a mask was added to the kippah, humorously covering the ears. Shaburov wrote his monologues in large letters on slips of paper and hung them on the ward walls.
He pulled it off!
As a result, his son (played by director-animator and lecturer Volodya Saknovsky) woke up from the coma and walked home with his dad down a street strewn with autumn leaves.
