December: Russian Auteurs
December: Russian Auteurs: FLMTQ Releases 163-167
During the month of December Filmatique presents Russian Auteurs, a collection of master works of contemporary Russian cinema.
Following his award-winning debut The Banishment and its sequel The Return, Andrey Zvyagintsev's third feature film Elena weaves an evocative tale of crime and punishment, anchored in an upwardly-mobile woman's zero-sum quest for survival. Aleksei Fedorchenko's Silent Souls embarks on a metaphysical road-trip through the expansive landscapes of Central Russia, inscribed in the ancient customs of an obliterated indigenous tribe, while Aleksandr Sokurov's Russian Ark reconstructs two centuries of Russian history by way of an unedited single-take Steadicam shot snaking through intimate moments and grand galas in St. Petersburg's famed Hermitage Museum. Aleksei German's posthumous Hard to Be a God is a sprawling epic that imagines humankind before modern civilization, while a special screening of Andrei Tarkovsky's Nostalghia attunes the spectator to the sensation of life outside Russia, once the artist has left his homeland.
Comprised of landmark films from some of Russia's most celebrated directors, Filmatique's Russian Auteurs series gravitates towards questions of morality, existence, history, violence, and the weight of a fallen empire—establishing an intricate lens into a culture that is often glimpsed, but rarely understood.
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Elena , Andrey Zvyagintsev (2011)
Elena, Andrey Zvyagintsev / Russia, 2011
Elena is a woman of a certain age, living in a chic Moscow apartment with her wealthy businessman husband. Here she is treated more like a housewife than a lover, perhaps retaining the vestiges her status as Vladimir's former nurse. While Vladimir is estranged from his daughter, he does not mask his contempt for Elena's own children, who seem to be in constant need of financial assistance. When Vladimir suddenly falls ill and his volatile, nihilistic daughter comes back into the picture, Elena must hatch a plan for her own survival.
Delving into the psyche of a morally ambiguous female protagonist, and featuring a haunting score by Philip Glass, Elena is a bold and stylish study of crime and punishment in contemporary Russia. Andrey Zvyagintsev's third feature premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, where it won a Special Jury Prize; Sundance, where it won the Sundance/NHK International Filmmakers Award; Durban, where it won Best Director; Ghent, where it won Best Film; Sarasota, where it won a Jury Prize; and Seville, where it won Best Actress. Elena was nominated in seven categories by the Russian Guild of Film Critics Awards—winning Best Film, Best Director, and Best Supporting Actress—and is a New York Times Critics' Pick.
Silent Souls , Aleksei Fedorchenko (2010)
Silent Souls, Aleksei Fedorchenko / Russia, 2010
Following the sudden death of his wife, Miron is at a loss. His tough-guy façade gives way to grief, then the singular determination to lay her body to rest according to the ancient burial rituals of the Merya people, a Finno-Ugric tribe that has all but disappeared. He recruits his friend Aist, a taciturn writer, to join him on an unlikely road-trip—across the vast, desolate landscapes of Central Russia, accompanied by a pair of caged birds, his wife's body, and indelible memories from his marriage.
An evocative exploration of the mysteries of love, existence, and death, Silent Souls charts an unexpected journey into the Russian hinterlands and its nearly-forgotten people. Aleksei Fedorchenko's first narrative feature premiered at the Venice Film Festival, where it won Best Cinematography, an Honorable Mention, and the FIPRESCI Prize; Mar del Plata, where it won Best Director and Best Screenplay; and Camerimage, where it won the Silver Frog. Silent Souls won Best Screenplay at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards and the Russian Guild of Film Critics Awards, and is a New York Times Critics' Pick.
Hard to Be a God, Aleksei German (2013)
Hard to Be a God, Aleksei German / Russia, 2013
Don Rumata is an odd specimen: a scientist from planet Earth, newly arrived in a world characterized by chaos, barbarism, and violence. Arkanar is in the throes of its own Middle Ages, and Don Rumata must never reveal his true identity. He has been sent here to study these people and strictly forbidden from interfering in Arkanar's social or political development. Within this world Don Rumata is regarded as godlike, taking on an authority he cannot exercise as its peoples plunge into visceral insanity.
Based on the legendary science fiction novel by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky—who also wrote Roadside Picnic, the source novel for Tarkovsky's Stalker—Hard to Be a God doubles as an epic vision of the early stages of human civilization and bleak commentary on post-Soviet Russia. Celebrated auteur Aleksei German's final film premiered at Rome, Cannes, Rotterdam and Mar del Plata, and won Nika Awards for Best Film, Best Director, Best Cinematographer, Best Sound, Best Production Designer, and Best Costume Designer, as well as Best Cinematographer and Best Production Designer from the Russian Guild of Film Critics. Hard to Be a God is a New York Times Critics' Pick.
Nostalghia, Andrei Tarkovsky (1983)
Nostalghia, Andrei Tarkovsky / Italy-Soviet Union, 1983
Russian poet Oleg Yankovsky has traveled to Tuscany, where he is doing research. While there he becomes often distracted by memories of his home, alienated from the stately architecture and lush landscapes that surround him. Infatuated with the Botticelli-like beauty of his translator, Eugenia, he cannot manage to connect with her; he prefers the company of Domenico, a rambling lunatic hastening the end of the world.
Shrouded in diaphanous textures of mist, fog, and rain, and blending memory and reality to the threshold of discernibility, Nostalghia evokes the distinct sensation of being elsewhere, far from home. Legendary filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky's penultimate work, and the first to be shot outside his native Russia, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, where it won Best Director, the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury, and the FIPRESCI Prize. That the film did not win the Palme d'Or has been speculated as owing to Soviet censorship, and strengthened Tarkovsky's resolve to never return.
Russian Ark, Aleksandr Sokurov (2002)