Alexandra Film Difficulty Ranking: 3
Why Watch Alexandra?
- To find out something about the Second Chechen War in Chechnya
- Experience life as a soldier
- Learn about Chechen v. Russian culture (also two different languages)
- It was nominated for a Cannes Palme D’Or
The Breakdown
Alexandra Nikolaevna hops off of a train on the way to visiting her son, fighting for Russia against the Chechen Republic. A few army officers come and find her and guide her to another train and then onto the top of an armoured vehicle. It isn’t clear what she is doing there, she is obviously out of place. Even the troops seem reluctant to talk to her and help her on her way.
She is ushered to sleep in a tent within the Russian army camp. The next morning she sees a man sleeping in a bed opposite hers. The director, Alexander Sokurov, guides us towards a close up of the man’s sleeping head which tracks down his body from head to toe. Alexandra and the audience both see his war battered body. The camera then focuses on an army jacket, showing the stars on the epaulettes showing his higher ranking. These two camera movements introduce Alexandra’s grandson Denis. From what we are shown, we can tell he is a soldier of a higher rank, and he is young, but already battered by what must be a prolonged war. (A great way of introducing a character without having to say anything).
After waking up, Denis takes his grandma for a tour around the army camp. Unlike other war films which focus on action, Alexandra (and Sokurov) direct our attention to the banalities of war. Sokurov shows us a line of men cleaning their guns, zooming in to show us the details. Denis then takes Alexandra into an armoured vehicle. Inside, Alexandra comments on the horrible smell and focuses on the wires, pumps, and empty drivers seat. In Alexandra, we see the guns and armoured vehicles but we don’t see them in action. This is the reality of war, prolonged periods of waiting.
Conclusion
Alexandra is our unbiased insight into the Second Chechen War. She gets everyone at the camp talking, from the lowly privates to the unit commander. Then, right when you think we are only going to hear from the Russian side of the story, she goes wandering into a nearby Chechen town and has a chat with an old Chechen woman. In a way that only an old woman could, she shows us life on the front line and gets soldiers to talk to us.
Also when you’ve watched this film, I’d recommend following this link to KinoKultura to read a more in-depth analysis of Alexandra.
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