Alexander Sokurov
| Alexander Sokurov | |
|---|---|
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| Born | 14 June 1951 Podorvikha, Irkutsk Oblast |
| Occupation | Film director |
| Years active | 1978 – present |
Alexander Nikolayevich Sokurov PAR (Russian: Алекса́ндр Никола́евич Соку́ров; born June 14, 1951) is a Russian filmmaker. His most significant works include a semi-documentary, Russian Ark (2002), filmed in a single unedited shot, and Faust (2011), which was honoured with the Golden Lion, the highest prize for the best film at the Venice Film Festival.[1]
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[edit] Life and work
Sokurov was born in Podorvikha, Irkutsk Oblast, in Siberia, into a military officer's family. He graduated from the History Department of the Nizhny Novgorod University in 1974 and entered one of the VGIK studios the following year. There he became friends with Tarkovsky and was deeply influenced by his film Mirror. Most of Sokurov's early features were banned by Soviet authorities. During his early period, he produced numerous documentaries, including an interview with Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and a reportage about Grigori Kozintsev's flat in St Petersburg. His film Mournful Unconcern was nominated for the Golden Bear at the 37th Berlin International Film Festival in 1987.[2]
Mother and Son (1997) was his first internationally-acclaimed feature film. It was mirrored by Father and Son (2003), which baffled the critics with its implicit homoeroticism (though Sokurov himself has criticized this particular interpretation). Susan Sontag included two Sokurov features among her ten favorite films of the 1990s, saying: "There’s no director active today whose films I admire as much."[3] In 2006, he received the Master of Cinema Award of the International Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg.
Sokurov is a Cannes Film Festival regular, with four of his movies having debuted there. However, until 2011, Sokurov didn't win top awards at major international festivals. For a long time, his most commercially and critically successful film was the semi-documentary Russian Ark (2002), acclaimed primarily for its visually hypnotic images and single unedited shot.
Sokurov has filmed a tetralogy exploring the corrupting effects of power. The first three installments were dedicated to prominent 20th-century rulers: Moloch (1999), about Hitler, Taurus (2000), about Lenin, and The Sun (2004) about Emperor Hirohito. In 2011, Sokurov shot the last part of the series, Faust, a retelling of Goethe's tragedy. The film, depicting instincts and schemes of Faust in his lust for power, premiered on 8 September 2011 in competition at the 68th Venice International Film Festival.[4] The film won the Golden Lion, the highest award of the Venice Festival.[1] Producer Andrey Sigle said about Faust: "The film has no particular relevance to contemporary events in the world—it is set in the early 19th century—but reflects Sokurov's enduring attempts to understand man and his inner forces."[5]
[edit] Filmography
[edit] Fiction films
- The Lonely Voice of Man (Одинокий голос человека, 1978–1987)
- The Degraded (Разжалованный, 1980)
- Mournful Unconcern (Скорбное бесчувствие, 1983–1987)
- Empire (Ампир, 1986)
- Days of Eclipse (Дни затмения, 1988)
- Save and Protect (Спаси и сохрани, 1989)
- The Second Circle (Круг второй, 1990)
- Stone (Камень, 1992)
- Whispering Pages (Тихие страницы, 1993)
- Mother and Son (Мать и сын, 1997)
- Moloch (Молох, 1999)
- Taurus (Телец, 2000)
- Russian Ark (Русский ковчег, 2002)
- Father and Son (Отец и сын, 2003)
- The Sun (Солнце, 2004)
- Alexandra (Александра, 2007)
- Faust (Фауст, 2011)
- Two Brothers and a Sister (TBC)
[edit] Documentaries
- Maria (Peasant Elegy) (1978–1988)
- Sonata for Hitler (1979–1989)
- Sonata for Viola. Dmitri Shostakovitch (1981)
- And Nothing More (1982–1987)
- Evening Sacrifice (1984–1987)
- Patience of Labour (1985–1987)
- Elegy (1986)
- Moscow Elegy (1986–1988)
- Petersburg Elegy (1990)
- Soviet Elegy (1990)
- To The Events In Transcaucasia (1990)
- A Simple Elegy (1990)
- A Retrospection of Leningrad (1957–1990) (1990)
- An Example of Intonation (1991)
- Elegy from Russia (1992)
- Soldier's Dream (1995)
- Spiritual Voices (1995)
- Oriental Elegy (1996)
- Hubert Robert. A Fortunate Life (1996)
- A Humble Life (1997)
- The St. Petersburg Diary: Inauguration of a monument to Dostoevsky (1997)
- The St. Petersburg Diary: Kosintsev's Flat (1998)
- Confession (1998)
- The Dialogues with Solzhenitsyn (1998)
- dolce… (1999)
- Elegy of a Voyage (2001)
- The St. Petersburg Diary: Mozart. Requiem (2004)
- Elegy of a life: Rostropovich, Vishnevskaya (2006)
[edit] Awards
- Locarno International Film Festival, Bronze Leopard (The Lonely Voice of Man, 1987)
- Moscow International Film Festival, FIPRESCI Award (out of competition, The Lonely Voice of Man, 1987)
- Berlin International Film Festival, Award of the Forum special programme (Days of Eclipse, 1989)
- International Film Festival Rotterdam, FIPRESCI Award, KNF Award (Elegy, A Simple Elegy, 1991)
- State Prize of the Russian Federation (Mother and Son, 1997)
- State Prize of the Russian Federation (Moloch, Taurus, 2001)
- Russian Guild of Film Critics Prize for Best Director (Taurus, 2001)
- Nika Award for Best Director and Best Picture (Taurus, 2001)
- Toronto International Film Festival, IFC Vision Award (Russian Ark, 2002)
- São Paulo International Film Festival, Special Award for Lifetime Achievements (2002)
- Cannes Film Festival, FIPRESCI Award (Father and Son, 2003)
- Argentine Film Critics Association, The Silver Condor Award (Russian Ark, 2004)
- Yerevan International Film Festival, Golden Apricot for Best Picture (The Sun, 2005)
- Locarno International Film Festival, Leopard of Honour for Lifetime Achievements (2006)
- Venice Film Festival, Robert Bresson Award for spiritual search and promotion of human culture (2007)
- Venice Film Festival, Golden Lion for Best Picture (Faust, 2011)
[edit] Bibliography
- The Cinema of Alexander Sokurov (Kino – The Russian Cinema), ed. by Birgit Beumers and Nancy Condee, London: Tauris I B, 2011
[edit] References
- ^ a b Vivarelli, Nick (2011-09-10). "'Faust' wins Golden Lion at Venice". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118042572?refCatId=13. Retrieved 2011-09-10.
- ^ "Berlinale: 1987 Prize Winners". berlinale.de. http://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/1987/02_programm_1987/02_Programm_1987.html. Retrieved 2011-03-01.
- ^ 2000» March. JonathanRosenbaum.com. Retrieved on 2011-09-13.
- ^ "Faust – Aleksander Sokurov". labiennale.org. Venice Biennale. http://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/lineup/off-sel/venezia68/faust.html. Retrieved 2011-09-07.
- ^ Holdsworth, Nick (2009-05-12). "'Faust' finishes Russian 'trilogy'". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118003512?refCatId=3620. Retrieved 2011-01-25.
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Alexander Sokurov |
- Sokurov's home page
- Alexander Sokurov at the Internet Movie Database
- The Island of Sokurov Stephen M. Norris, Russia Beyond the Headlines, 23 December 2009
