AndreiV

I want congratulate Mr. Sokurov with a very successful marketing of his product in the West. He learned all the necessary tricks from "Burnt by the Sun": put as many recognizable cliches as possible and make something pretentious out of it - everything that falls apart will be signed off as a search for that mysterious Russian soul. Here they are: Peter the Great, Catherine II, Pushkin, Griboedov, Nicholas II, Anastasia. Only Rasputin is missing for some reason. Of course, western audience is happy to recognize the characters and I'm not blaming them. I'd be happy to recognize historical characters in a Chinese film. Unfortunately, my knowledge of that part of the human history is limited.

Busy with this recognition game the western viewers probably miss the fact that the movie completely falls apart and does not deliver any message except the one about the special Russian destiny, which is by itself a worn out cliche. To be more specific: Russian officers behave (and look) like peasants rather than sons of the Nobelty, poor ugly-looking Pushkin runs around arguing with his wife (supposedly she was a beauty - I'd never guess it by watching the movie). In general actors play very unprofessionally, not to mention that their costumes don't fit.

Hopefully this is the lowest point in Sokurov's career. I really liked his early films ("Days of eclipse" , for example). It's a shame he's failed this time.

Or maybe it is the best. Characters are 100% convincing, shooting on location is terrific and the story itself is absolutely thrilling. It is another exploration of human obsession undertaken by Herzog with brilliant (as usual) results. Of course, one may question the technical side of the two solo climbs but here we can completely rely on the expertise of Reinhold Meissner. Unfortunately, it is not likely that this film will be ever appreciated by the mainstream American audience.