The Phoenix Network:
 
 
 
About  |  Advertise
 
Movies
Features  |  Reviews
-->

Aleksandra

A reverie of militarism, family turmoil, and weird eroticism
By PETER KEOUGH  |  June 17, 2008
3.0 3.0 Stars
aleksandraINSIDE.jpg
ALEKSANDRA: Human drama from Aleksandr Sokurov.

One advantage to having a war zone right next door is that your grandmother can drop by for a visit. Set ostensibly in battle-weary Chechnya, Aleksandr Sokurov’s new reverie takes up the themes of militarism, family turmoil, and weird eroticism he explored in such previous films as Father and Son. The old woman of the title, stout and sturdy as a fireplug, takes an “armored train” to the outpost where her grandson is an officer. The soldiers in the camp treat her with bemused awe and annoyance — she’s a reminder of normality and home, but she also won’t stay put, wandering about the camp, chatting with sentries, straying into minefields, venturing beyond the gates to a local market. There she bonds more readily with the old Chechen women selling cigarettes than with her estranged flesh-and-blood and his mysterious missions to do she knows not what. Less visually exultant than Sokurov’s best, but in its human drama adding grit to his mythmaking. Russian + Chechen | 92 minutes | Kendall Square
Related:
  Topics: Reviews , Alexander Sokurov
  • Share:
  • RSS feed Rss
  • Email this article to a friend Email
  • Print this article Print
Comments

Today's Event Picks
ARTICLES BY PETER KEOUGH
Share this entry with Delicious
  •   REVIEW: MILK  |  November 26, 2008
    Van Sant's gay of reckoning
  •   REVIEW: AUSTRALIA  |  November 25, 2008
    Baz Luhrmann's Oz and ends
  •   INTERVIEW: CLEVE JONES  |  November 25, 2008
    Retro active
  •   SIMPLE BLOOD  |  November 24, 2008
    Twilight puts the life back into the undead
  •   WHIZ KID  |  November 24, 2008
    Slumdog Millionaire is a magical misery tour

 See all articles by: PETER KEOUGH

MOST POPULAR
RSS Feed of for the most popular articles
 Most Viewed   Most Emailed 
HOT TOPICS
 More Topics . . .
LATEST SLIDESHOWS

All Slideshows



Thursday, December 04, 2008  |  Sign In  |  Register
 
thePhoenix.com:
Phoenix Media/Communications Group:
TODAY'S FEATURED ADVERTISERS
Copyright © 2008 The Phoenix Media/Communications Group