Alexandra

85

The Cinema Guild (95 minutes)
and Aleksandr Sokurov
Galina Vishnevskaya , Vasily Shevtsov , and Raisa Gichaeva

Rating: Not Rated

Summary: In a desolate, sun-scorched corner of the world, an elderly woman has come to see her beloved grandson, a young officer stationed at a remote military outpost. With the enemy just beyond the compound, she wanders the barracks, observing the routine of military life, before making a sudden trip to the outlying countryside. (The Cinema Guild)

Manohla Dargis
The New York Times:
(100) A film of startling originality and beauty -- feels like a communiqué from another time, another place, anywhere but here.

Walter Addiego
San Francisco Chronicle:
(100) In the hands of visionary filmmaker Alexander Sokurov, this simple material makes for a haunting drama about war, generational relationships and the human condition.

Michael Phillips
Chicago Tribune:
(100) It's unlike any other war film, in any language.

Jay Weissberg
Variety:
(90) Though he's sure to deny it, Alexandra is Alexander Sokurov's most directly political work for years. Featuring a performance of monumental depth by opera legend Galina Vishnevskaya, pic presents war for what it is: brutal, crushing, and ugly, and yet Sokurov doesn't lens any battles.

Ken Fox
TV Guide:
(88) Never the most optimistic of poets, Sokurov does suggest the possibility of dialogue on the individual level, and the hope that by asking difficult questions of one another, these mortal enemies can find answers and reach an understanding everyone can live with.

Wesley Morris
Boston Globe:
(88) Alexandra is a pleasure to watch, but it's also one of those lovely, unclassifiable movies that flourishes better with repeated or prolonged exposures.

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