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occuserpens) wrote2007-01-07 07:44 pm
occuserpens) wrote2007-01-07 07:44 pm
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No, I have not seen Lungin's movie, but, judging by the review on variety.com, it does not look particularly promising.
To begin with, D.Young's analogy with Lars von Trier hardy makes any sense. The problem is, Von Trier is a Protestant and he certainly works in the W.European existential tradition. But Russian Orthodoxal culture could not have less to do with Protestant existentialism, Dostoyevsky is completely different.
40 years ago, back in 1966, A.Tarkovsky made a movie about a monk - venerable "Rublev", but that's Tarkovsky! In fact, Tarkovsky was religious, so what about Lungin? One thing is for sure, there is just no way to make a good movie about monastery life without actual religious practice. Another example is A.Holland and her brilliant "The Third Miracle". Well, Holland is a practicing Catholic.
Most importantly, Lungin's Father Anatoly appears to do actual miracles. Sorry, but no, this is just not the way such things are done! There are absolutely no miracles in Rublev and The Third Miracle, and this is quite essential.
Finally, the way Lungin connects WW2 with his story just does not smell good. The point is, WW2 was 100.00% secular and putting religious clout on it now just does not click for anybody who knows a thing about it.
Well, if all this is not more or less cheesy charlatanry with a monk for modern Stakhanovets - this would be a real miracle. One can only hope that this is the case, but, frankly, I am pretty skeptical about Lungin's movie.
DEBORAH YOUNG. The Island
A short prologue is set on a dark night in 1942, when a Russian boat piloted by dashing young captain Tikhon (Aleksei Zelenski) is captured by a German patrol. As he bravely waits to be executed, the Nazi commander suddenly passes a gun to his quailing mate Anatoly (Timofei Tribuntzev) and orders him to do the deed, in exchange for his life. Hysterical with fear, Anatoly pulls the trigger.
The action then flashes forward to 1976. In a small seaside monastery, Anatoly (Mamonov) is now a balding old man. Black as the devil and covered with soot, he works tirelessly stoking the monastery's fiery boiler with coal while he lives like a hermit in an outlying cabin. He has spent his life trying to expiate his guilt at killing the captain, but his soul can find no peace. Though his fellow monks avoid the eccentric fellow, he has earned a reputation among the local population for healing and foretelling the future.
Anatoly's miracles always carry a heavy pricetag in his stern demand that the beneficiary -- in one case, a pregnant girl; in another, a mother whose son can't walk -- sacrifice all their worldly goals to God's will. He's no less strict with his comfort-loving superior, Father Filaret (Viktor Sukhorukov) and the proud Father Job (Dmitry Dyuzhev), his antagonist. Both learn their lessons the hard way, in well-scripted scenes that could be inspired by folk tales.
To begin with, D.Young's analogy with Lars von Trier hardy makes any sense. The problem is, Von Trier is a Protestant and he certainly works in the W.European existential tradition. But Russian Orthodoxal culture could not have less to do with Protestant existentialism, Dostoyevsky is completely different.
40 years ago, back in 1966, A.Tarkovsky made a movie about a monk - venerable "Rublev", but that's Tarkovsky! In fact, Tarkovsky was religious, so what about Lungin? One thing is for sure, there is just no way to make a good movie about monastery life without actual religious practice. Another example is A.Holland and her brilliant "The Third Miracle". Well, Holland is a practicing Catholic.
Most importantly, Lungin's Father Anatoly appears to do actual miracles. Sorry, but no, this is just not the way such things are done! There are absolutely no miracles in Rublev and The Third Miracle, and this is quite essential.
Finally, the way Lungin connects WW2 with his story just does not smell good. The point is, WW2 was 100.00% secular and putting religious clout on it now just does not click for anybody who knows a thing about it.
Well, if all this is not more or less cheesy charlatanry with a monk for modern Stakhanovets - this would be a real miracle. One can only hope that this is the case, but, frankly, I am pretty skeptical about Lungin's movie.
DEBORAH YOUNG. The Island
A short prologue is set on a dark night in 1942, when a Russian boat piloted by dashing young captain Tikhon (Aleksei Zelenski) is captured by a German patrol. As he bravely waits to be executed, the Nazi commander suddenly passes a gun to his quailing mate Anatoly (Timofei Tribuntzev) and orders him to do the deed, in exchange for his life. Hysterical with fear, Anatoly pulls the trigger.
The action then flashes forward to 1976. In a small seaside monastery, Anatoly (Mamonov) is now a balding old man. Black as the devil and covered with soot, he works tirelessly stoking the monastery's fiery boiler with coal while he lives like a hermit in an outlying cabin. He has spent his life trying to expiate his guilt at killing the captain, but his soul can find no peace. Though his fellow monks avoid the eccentric fellow, he has earned a reputation among the local population for healing and foretelling the future.
Anatoly's miracles always carry a heavy pricetag in his stern demand that the beneficiary -- in one case, a pregnant girl; in another, a mother whose son can't walk -- sacrifice all their worldly goals to God's will. He's no less strict with his comfort-loving superior, Father Filaret (Viktor Sukhorukov) and the proud Father Job (Dmitry Dyuzhev), his antagonist. Both learn their lessons the hard way, in well-scripted scenes that could be inspired by folk tales.