‘Astenicheskiy sindrom (Asthenic Syndrome) – Kira Muratova’

In the old days it was called hypochondria, or black melancholia. Now, apparently, it's termed the Asthenic Syndrome. Whatever it is, Nikolai, a teacher of epically indifferent pupils, has got it, and it's not much fun. Worse still, quite a few other people, even an entire society, seem to be afflicted with the same problem writ extremely large...