|
© 2024 Pavel Konyukhov |
|
e-mail: |
|
Father and Son (Otetz i syn) by Alexander Sokurov |
|
Some time ago the television station “Culture” showed the film “Father and Son” by A. Sokurov. I had heard of this movie and that it had won first prize in the Cannes Film Festival, and I tried very hard to see it. Finally, I was able to. But what is my understanding of this movie? It is very difficult to say; it is one of those films where one needs to watch closely, and to scrutinize the souls of the heroes. However, it seems that there is no mystery about the mind of the son, at least. The film begins with a scene in a bed – it seems to be a homoerotic scene with two naked male bodies engaged in a physical act. But after a few minutes you realize that the son has just awakened from a bad dream and his father is soothing him – not at all the thing you thought at first. But in the course of the film you do see hints of that thing (what shall we call it? Love?) There is whispering face to face and you expect a kiss; but no, it doesn’t happen. That threshold is never crossed. Alexei’s mother died when he was a little boy, and he shares an unusually intimate relationship with his father who is, to the teenager, mother, brother, friend, roommate, protector, confidante, hero, playmate, and sharer of dreams. They are both military men and this fact gives a masculine expression to their features, but at the same time, tenderness and caring. One needs to think about a recurring theme in this film where the father says and the son repeats: “A father’s love crucifies; a son’s love lets itself be crucified”. This is a saying of the heirodeacon Drozdov, of the 19th century. The film begins by the father asking his son “What are you doing?” “I am sleeping”, answers the son. “Am I in your dream?” “No, but you are somewhere close”. The inverse of this is at the end of the film, and the two scenes frame the work.
Pavel Konyukhov
|
