What happens when you merge the following: Russia’s greatest living director, cellist Mstislav Rostropovich‘s widow (a legendary soprano in her own right), and the ghost of John Ford? Master director Alexander Sokurov‘s Alexandra, that’s what.
Sokurov (Russian Ark) here tells the seemingly simple story of a Russian widow visiting her beloved grandson, a Russian Army captain who is part of the occupying force in Chechnya, one of those relatively unknown, unending post-Soviet nightmares.
Alexandra, as played by the great Russian soprano Galina Vishnevskaya, is a short, slow- moving old woman – after all, she is 81. But her force of personality, projected by her eyes, and her physical presence, is like a reckoning handed down. We can imagine the shaping events of Russian history this woman, a cross between Mother Russia and Ma Joad, has witnessed: first- hand- Stalin, WWII, Communism, the fall of the Soviet Union. Chechnya is just the latest in a litany of horrors to be sustained and absorbed by the Russian soul.
Every time I get lulled into the pedestrian, unimaginative, and ignorant rhythms of most contemporary American films, I count myself fortunate to have viewed a film like this – one untouched by pop culture, with a true artist’s eye for formalism and classicist imagery, and obviously touched by great influences.
So many contemporary foreign directors from Russia, Romania, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, and Thailand, among others, were trained in rigorous, even repressive film schools, which taught them classical filmmaking – Ford, Hawks, Welles, etc., eschewing anything that wasn’t seen as artistic. That system of film education has produced true giants, like Sokurov.
If you happen to be familiar with Sokurov’s Russian Ark, then you probably know that it was filmed in one long take. He doesn’t do that in Alexandra, using the long take much more sparingly, but with great impact – my favorite being when her grandson braids Alexandra’s hair. Sokurov is also masterful in his use of color- in army camp scenes, he washes out the color, but in such a way that the images are still overwhelmingly beautiful – all burnished browns, bronzes, and golds. This choice on the director’s part leads to what some might consider the salient point to be addressed in any war film – and he is far too subtle to scream anti-war; Sokurov prefers to simply present a rumination, Russian-style, on the state of things.
Sokurov’s influences are many and beautiful. The tenderness with which he lingers on the young soldiers’ faces and bodies is so reminiscent of Claire Denis‘ lustrous images of Foreign Legion soldiers in Beau Travail. And John Ford must be smiling from beyond the grave at the rolling homage he receives – The Grapes of Wrath and The Searchers are the constant lodestars; watch for the night sequence in the camp when Alexandra decides she can’t sleep with the twin aromas of men and guns – her journey to the camp gate could easily have been shot by the great Gregg Toland. – [DVD]
Drama/War
Not Rated
DVD Release Date: 4/28/09