In "Aleksandra" a grandmother visits after a long time her grandson. The grandson is a soldier stationed in Chechnya during the civil war of 1994.
"Aleksandra" is not a war film in the usual sense of the word, but the fact that the grandson is a soldier and lives on an army camp does have an influence on all the relationships the film illustrates.
In the first place the relationship between the grandmother and her grandson and his colleague soldiers. The arrival of an 80+ woman is not a daily event in an army camp and to be honest the soldiers have some difficulty adopting an attitude. Not however Aleksandra herself, who (despite her age) is still headstrong and can't be put aside very easily. Ín this respect it helped that Aleksandra was played by an aging opera diva.
The army camp and the local community are two seperate worlds. Despite (or thanks to?) her headstrong character Aleksandra and a local woman of her age succeed in building a bridge where the younger generations failed.
In 1997 Sokurov made "Mother and son", in 2003 he made "Father and son". "Aleksandra" can be regarded as a sort of "Grandmother and son". I am curious if somewhere in the future he will make "Grandfather and son" (whatever the title).
I have a weak spot for war films that are not (only) about the war. Excellent examples are "The best years of our lives" (1946, William Wyler) and "The deer hunter" (1978, Michael Cimino). "Aleksandra" is not on par with this examples. The main reason being that character development in "Aleksandra" is less interesting. Perhaps it is also a bit over-asking to expect character development in an 80-year-old.
"Aleksandra" is not a war film in the usual sense of the word, but the fact that the grandson is a soldier and lives on an army camp does have an influence on all the relationships the film illustrates.
In the first place the relationship between the grandmother and her grandson and his colleague soldiers. The arrival of an 80+ woman is not a daily event in an army camp and to be honest the soldiers have some difficulty adopting an attitude. Not however Aleksandra herself, who (despite her age) is still headstrong and can't be put aside very easily. Ín this respect it helped that Aleksandra was played by an aging opera diva.
The army camp and the local community are two seperate worlds. Despite (or thanks to?) her headstrong character Aleksandra and a local woman of her age succeed in building a bridge where the younger generations failed.
In 1997 Sokurov made "Mother and son", in 2003 he made "Father and son". "Aleksandra" can be regarded as a sort of "Grandmother and son". I am curious if somewhere in the future he will make "Grandfather and son" (whatever the title).
I have a weak spot for war films that are not (only) about the war. Excellent examples are "The best years of our lives" (1946, William Wyler) and "The deer hunter" (1978, Michael Cimino). "Aleksandra" is not on par with this examples. The main reason being that character development in "Aleksandra" is less interesting. Perhaps it is also a bit over-asking to expect character development in an 80-year-old.