Dukhovnye golosa. Iz dnevnikov voyny. Povestvovanie v pyati chastyakh (1995)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Aleksandr Sokurov

Writer:

Aleksandr Sokurov (writer)

Release Date:

10 August 1996 (Japan)

Genre:

Documentary

Plot Keywords:

Afghanistan | Russian Army

Cast

Aleksandr Sokurov

...

Narrator (voice) (uncredited)

Also Known As:

Dukhovnye golosa (Russia) (short title)
Spiritual Voices

Runtime:

Germany:328 min

Country:

Russia

Language:

Russian

Color:

Color

Company:

Severny Fond

Movie Connections:

Edited into Soldatskiy son (1995)

waiting

Aleksandr Sokurov is,beyond any doubt, one of the most important living directors,and perhaps the only Russian one who might claim himself as a "new Tarkovski". ,Sokurov's cinema has a very abstract language,and might find the right echo to rather sparse audiences,as some of Tarkovski's movies are.His cinema is highly demanding,first of all by its excruciating slow pace,austere chromatic, metaphorical language.This movie,at some 5 hours plus it's not an easy nut to take,but those who venture inside this ocean will find a hypnotic pleasure in it.Foreget all the yada yada about war in American movies;you won't find here any commentary about this war,neither any rhetorical or ideological involvement.Is a long movie about being soldier,a kind of ontology of waiting,of the in between.Organised in 5 uneven long episodes,this film,in a mixture of poetry,journalistic curiosity,and personal statement makes us live,feel,be in that awful place that the movie depicts.The first episode,40 minutes long,is a still image of a frozen Siberian village;an off voice speaks about classical music,and art meanings.This might sound amazingly boring,but you have to see how moving and breathtaking beautiful Aleksandr Sokurov makes it. Using video media,this film might seem as a witness.It is,actually,a first person witness,because the movie is meant to be a sort of metaphorical diary;this person might be everyone of us,and in a way this happens and slowly become involved in that reality. Highly recommended,once again,for very special audiences.