Arquivo

Sokurov’ new film is a characteristically elemental tale of a grandmother visiting her grandson, a Russian army captain posted in Chechnya. However, as one might expect from a director with metaphysical tendencies, Sokurov’ subject is not only Chechnya but every war, and he ruminates on the universal psychic wounds that conflict engenders. Bearing a name evoking an ancient civilization, strong-willed Alexandra travels to Grozny to visit her twenty-seven-year-old grandson, Denis, whom she has not seen in seven years. They tour the base, which is plagued by oppressive heat and an undercurrent of violence. Here we experience the military barracks from the old woman’ point-of-view; she sees with fresh eyes the soldiers‚Äô routine and their machinations for an endless war.