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Genre : Drama | Original Language : Russian | Country : France, Russian Federation
Directed by : Alexander Sokurov Screenplay : Alexander Sokurov Cinematographer : Aleksandr Burov Editor : Sergei Ivanov
Producers/ Co- Producers : Laurent Danielou, Andrei Sigle
“Alexandra captures the sights, sounds and smells of war - from the perspective of a grandmother.”
- Sam Adams, Philadelphia City Paper
Original Title
Aleksandra
Synopsis
An insight into the banality, and human cost of war, seen through the eyes of a grandmother. An elderly Russian woman visits her grandson Denis (Vasily Shevtsov), a soldier, at his secluded camp in Chechnya. Alexandra (Galina Vishnevskaya), is escorted by soldiers to a train which takes her to her grandson who is in a shabby encampment along with other young soldiers. Alexandra wanders through the camp during her stay, as she observes the young boys who treat her with respect. On her first morning, she is overjoyed when she finds her grandson sleeping in her room, after returning from a mission. While she stays at the encampment, Denis leaves with his men, occasionally, for unsaid reasons. Alexandra even makes visits to a war-ravaged Chechen village where she buys cigarettes and cookies for the army soldiers. There, she befriends an elderly street merchant Malika (Raisa Gichaeva). The two share a respect for each other based on a mutual understanding of war and its heartbreaking effects on their families. Veteran Russian opera singer, Galina Vishnevskaya, makes her screen debut as and in Alexandra, a moving observational drama about the senselessness of war. Directed by Alexander Sokurov, the film was nominated for the Palme d’Or at the 2007 Festival de Cannes.
