Room and a Half

2009 Director Andrei Khrzhanovsky

This touching and amusing movie is a biography, both imaginative and imaginary, of Joseph Brodsky (1940-1996), the self-taught poet, critic and translator, raised in Leningrad, the son of a Soviet naval photographer, and persecuted by the state for his independence of mind.

In 1972 he was driven into American exile where he achieved intellectual eminence, and he received the Nobel Prize for literature in 1987.

Brodsky never returned to Russia and apparently once said that "such a journey could only take place anonymously". Khrzhanovsky takes Brodsky on a journey back to Leningrad, dreaming about his youth, upbringing and early life as he takes the ferry from Helsinki to Leningrad before being reunited with his elderly parents.

The director uses animated sequences to elegant effect, and his affectionate, nostalgic movie brings to mind the autobiographical works of those other exiles, Vladimir Nabokov and Andrei Tarkovsky.

The Mirror

1974 Director Andrei Tarkovsky

As the son of a famous Russian poet, this is a stream of consciousness overlayed by his father's poetry.

This non-linear autobiographical film is Tarkovsky's most personal meditation on time, history and the Russian countryside. Through a series of episodes and images, he captures the mood and the feeling of the period just before, during and after the war. Lyrical reminiscences of his mother and of his father's poetry figure large in the film, along with extraordinary images of nature.

Combining black-and-white and color work, with some unusual documentary footage, this highly regarded movie is structured with the logic of a dream. It's a wonderful, slow amble through someones innermost fond memories.

The Banishment

2007 Director Andrei Zvyagintsev

This is Zvyagintsev's follow up to The Return. It is the tale of two brothers struggling to keep their lives together in the face of certain disaster.

Alex and his family move from the city to his father's old house in the countryside. As the family settles into their rustic existence, Alex's wife reveals that she is pregnant by another man. Enraged by his wife's announcement, Alex consults with his brother and demands that she terminates the pregnancy. When the forced abortion goes horribly awry and Alex's brother suffers a severe heart attack, a confrontation with the man Alex believes to have seduced his wife send events quickly spiraling out of control.

A tale of high morals and pride set against stunning scenery, all beautifully filmed. The transition from idyll to nightmare is so gradual as to be almost imperceptible. It is a harrowing story that highlights the critical points in one's life where devastation can so easily follow ill informed decisions. Well worth seeing.

The Return

2003 Director Andrei Zvyagintsev

This is Zvyagintsev's debut film about sibling relationships. A tense psychological drama set along a journey to a remote island.

One summer, two brothers are surprised by the arrival of their long absent father. Although the boys only know him from an old photograph, he persuades them to accompany him on a fishing trip. One brother takes to his father immediately while the other shows a deep contempt and distrust. The father shows an amount of favouritism to the older bother, which worsens matters with the younger. Finally they arrive at the island only to find that the father has another agenda.

Ivan Dobronravov plays the younger brother and puts in an award winning performance. I have never seen a more intense piece of acting by one so young. The story is meticulously filmed in breathtakingly beautiful landscapes. As a debut film, Zvyagintsev set a very high standard, which he gratifyingly managed to maintain in his follow up film "The Banishment". This is a director to watch out for.

Stalker

1979 Director Andrei Tarkovsky

This is Tarkovsky’s seminal masterpiece loosely based on Arkady and Boris Strugatski’s science fiction novel, Roadside Picnic.

The film is based on the premise that at some point aliens visited our planet and left behind dangerous and contaminated zones. Stalkers are those that have mastered the art of navigating those zones and plundering their riches. The film deals with a writer and a professor taken into to the zone by such a stalker in search of a fabled room where their innermost wishes can be granted. It is a journey of introspection and changing motives.

This is Tarkovsky at his very best. Although the original version was completely destroyed by the developing laboratory because an experimental film stock was used, Tarkovsky set about re-filming the entire project anew making many changes along the way. He employs no special effects whatsoever relying instead on atmosphere and beautifully choreographed cinematography. A haunting soundtrack compliments the long close up tracking shots and the careful juxtapositioning of black and white and colour shots makes this a landmark film.

Day Watch

2006 Director Timur Bekmambetov

This is Bekmambetov's second and last installment of the ill fated trilogy.

Day Watch opens in the 14th century, when a Mongol warrior, acquires the "The Chalk of Destiny," that can be used to guide the course of history. Cut to today, the Day Watch and the Night Watch are ongoing. Two Warriors of Light, Anton and Svetlana, develop feelings for one another as they patrol the Night Watch together. As the story progresses, the pair must respond to a distress call from an octogenarian victim of a vampire attack committed by Anton's 12-year-old son. Anton must suddenly wrestle with two conflicting desires; the need to protect his offspring by destroying incriminating evidence, and his own desire to remain loyal to the Night Watch.

Several interesting concepts are explored notably body swapping and that there is no such thing as complete impartiality. This is a sequel worthy of the original. I hope that the concluding installment Twilight Watch is resurrected by the same director. Like Night Watch this film merits several viewings.,

Night Watch

2004 Director Timur Bekmambetov

This is the first installment in a trilogy of two by Bekmambetov. The concluding installment, Twilight or Dusk Watch, was, unfortunately, shelved. I hope the project is taken back up before Hollywood makes a poor American imitation.

In 1342, the Warriors of Light and the Warriors of Darkness, realising that a final battle will only result in both being annihilated, declare an uneasy truce under which each side will form a law enforcement team to monitor the other side's activities. The Warriors of Light, who enforce the powers of good, patrol the Night Watch, while the Warriors of Darkness, who openly embrace evil, patrol the Day Watch. Each watch group also contains "Others," mortals with supernatural powers from both sides that include vampires, shapeshifters, witches, and the like. Prophecy suggests that one day, a Great One will surface and permanently extinguish the threat of an apocalyptic war between the two sides by upsetting the balance, lending greater power to either good or evil and thus determining the future of mankind forever.

Unless you understand Russian reasonably well you will have to pay a great deal of attention to the tone while reading the subtitles or you will miss much of the underlying irony and pathos in the film. Darkly shot with great action sequences and some very inventive special effects this is a very enjoyable film. More is gained by repeat viewings.

Solaris

1972 Director Andrei Tarkovsky

Based on a novel by Stanislaw Lem, this is Tarkovsky's famous seminal science fiction film which explores the bounderies of reality.

It centers on a widowed psychologist Kris Kelvin, who is sent to a space station orbiting a water planet called Solaris to investigate the mysterious death of a doctor, as well as the mental problems plaguing the dwindling number of cosmonauts on the station. Finding the remaining crew behaving oddly and aloof, Kelvin is more than surprised when he meets his seven-years-dead wife Khari on the station. It quickly becomes apparent that Solaris possesses something that brings out repressed memories and obsessions within the cosmonauts, leaving Kelvin to question his perception of reality. 

These concepts were pretty ground breaking in 1972, which lead to this film being compared to Stanley Kubrik's 2001. In actual fact there are very few touching points. Much as I admire Tarkovsky's work his lack of attention to detail in this film makes it very dated. In 2002 Steven Soderbergh remade the film and cast George Clooney in the lead to much greater effect.

Russian Ark

2002 Director Aleksander Sokurov

Sokurov broke boundaries with his dreamlike vision of the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, the Russian Ark. It's the first feature-length film shot in a single take using a state of the art Steadicam operated by a single cameraman. The full 90 minutes are one unedited take.

Russian Ark is shot from the first person point of view, exploring the museum and traveling through Russian history. The audience witnesses Peter the Great abusing one of his generals; Catherine the Great desperately searching for a bathroom; and, in the grand finale, the sumptuous Great Royal Ball of 1913. The viewer is accompanied by a sarcastic and eccentric 19th century French Marquis, who travels with him throughout the huge grounds, encountering various historical figures and viewing the legendary artworks on display.

The film was obviously shot in one day, but the cast and crew rehearsed for months to time their movements precisely with the flow of the camera while capturing the complex narrative, with elaborate costumes from different periods, and several trips out to the exterior of the museum. Tilman Büttner, the director of photography, was responsible for capturing it all in one single Steadicam shot.

As an exercise in well choreographed cinematography this is an unsurpassed endeavour.

Ivan's Childhood

1962 Director Andrei Tarkovsky

This is Andrei Tarkovsky debut film. A feature-length wartime drama and a remarkable introduction to a remarkable career. The poetic touch of Tarkovsky's hand and his measured pace is already evident as the tale of the young, twelve-year-old Ivan evolves. Ivan is orphaned after his village is wiped out by an invading Nazi army and as a consequence, he ends up in a prison camp. The inventive lad escapes and is taken under the wing of Captain Kholin, whose intention is to send the boy away to school. But Ivan is determined to help the Russian army and so he starts spying on the German forces. Because of his tender years he manages to pass freely back and forth behind enemy lines -- at least for awhile.

This is a poignant and tragic film about the loss of innocence in a vanishing generation. This exemplary film won the top prize, the Golden Lion award at the 1962 Venice Film Festival and also won the Grand Prize at the 1962 San Francisco Film Festival.

Koktebel

2003 Director Boris Khlebnikov 

This is the debut film of the the Russian writing/directing team of Boris Khlebnikov and Alexei Popogrebsky. Ostensibly a road movie, Koktebel charts the journey from Moscow to the Crimea of a widowed alcoholic father and his 11-year-old son.

Along the way they are helped by a rail worker, although I defy anyone to doubt his initial motives as he leads the pair to a locked shed in the rail yard. They meet up with grumpy recluse who shoots the father with a dust gun during a drunken altercation. A local woman doctor fixes him up, leading to a romance. The father decides to stay with her. The son becomes disillusioned and decides to finish the journey by himself.

The cinematography is stunning with long panoramic shots of a very beautiful part of the Soviet Union. It is a film that I will revisit many times.