Victor Kossakovsky’s Top 10
Spiritual Voices Alexander Sokurov
Russia, 1995 video, color, 328 min Director: Alexander Sokurov Photography: Aleksandr Burov, Aleksei Fyodorov Screenplay: Alexander Sokurov Editing: Leda Semyonova Sound: Sergei Moshkov Music: Gustav Mahler Production: Severny Fond World Sales: Doc & Film International Screening Copy: Doc & Film International
Alexander Sokurov:
Maria (Peasant Elegy) (1978-1988), Sonata for Hitler (1979-1989), Petersburg Elegy (1990), Soviet Elegy (1990), Dream (1995), Moloch (fiction, 1999), Dolce... (1999), Elegy of a Voyage (2001), Russian Ark (2002), The St. Petersburg Diary: Mozart. Requiem (2004), The Sun (fiction, 2005), Elegy of a Life (2006), Aleksandra (fiction, 2007), Blockade Book (2009), Faust (fiction, 2011), a.o.
From 1994 to 1995, Alexander Sokurov spent several months “embedded” with the 11th Frontier Post of the Russian Army’s Moscow Border Detachment, which at the time was guarding the Tajik-Afghan border against incursions by Taliban fighters. The result is this five-part, five-hour film that evocatively shows the soldiers’ lives in this desolate environment. The political-military situation never becomes clear, and the soldiers remain anonymous. The faceless enemy is never far away. The camera records units on patrol in the rugged mountains, the dust and dirt. The troops’ daily routine consists of military formalities and domestic chores: preparing tasteless-looking meals and defusing landmines. Don’t expect tales of heroism or exciting combat footage, nor intrigues between the soldiers and their officers. If weapons have to be used, the camera remains safely behind the line, a microphone recording the sounds of battle from a safe distance. Nor is there a narrative structure – this film is all about aesthetic expression. Guarding the border turns out to be deathly boring, but with danger constantly looming in the background. The general feeling could be said to be one of hopelessness. In the words of one Russian border guard, “NATO soldiers would have killed themselves long ago.”
Ten Minutes Older Herz Frank
Latvia, 1987 35mm, black-and-white, 10 min Director: Herz Frank Photography: Juris Podniek Screenplay: Herz Frank Sound: Alfreds Visnevskis Music: Udgards Gedravicus Production: Riga Film Studio Screening Copy: National Film Center of Latvia
Herz Frank:
Salty Bread (1964) Restricted Area (1975) The Last Celebration (1980) Once Upon a Time there Lived Seven Simeons (1989) The Song of Songs (1989) Flashback (2002) Dear Juliet (2004) Aufenhalt Germania (2004) a.o.
The title refers to the length of this cinematic experiment about the power of exaltation, but also to the toddlers and preschoolers appearing before the camera. Ten minutes of their lives go by while they watch a puppet show, of which director Herz Frank shows us nothing at all. All we see are the concentrated expressions of the little kids. The director captures every movement of their mouths and eyes in detail. The emotions behind those expressions change at a quick tempo and cannot be fathomed just like that. Boredom? Excitement? Sadness? Joy? Even a smile can just as easily be a sign of relief or humor. Just as the kids watch the show, in silence and filmed in sober black-and-white, Frank lets us watch them and just as they are touched by what they see, we also attempt to understand what is going on with them. Does the performance change their lives or leave scars on their delicate souls? Art serves as a mirror for humanity, and apparently this begins when we are very little. But seldom does this reflection reveal ourselves, intensely thrilled through art.
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