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Film/Video CINEMA OF THE SPIRIT: ALEXANDER SOKUROV SIMPLE ELEGY EVENING SACRIFICE ELEGY THURSDAY OCTOBER 31, 2002, 8 PM FREE AUDITORIUM |
| OCTOBER 18 | 23 | 30 | 31 |
SIMPLE ELEGY
In 1990, Russia placed an economic blockade on Lithuania. Sokurov takes us inside the Lithuanian president's office and a housing block--places that have been silenced by Russian political power. Shooting in spare, silent black and white, Sokurov aesthetically conveys the cultural climate. 1990, Russia, video (original format 35mm), silent, 20 minutes.
with
EVENING SACRIFICE
A record of a May 1 Labor Day fireworks celebration, Sokurov's Evening Sacrifice is comprised of ecstatic looks at urban crowds and beautifully composed shots of individual faces. Recalling the classic work of Eisenstein and Vertov, this frenetically edited work relies on gesture and facial expressions rather than dialogue to narrate an event. 1984-1987, Russia, video (original format 35mm), silent, 20 minutes.
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ELEGY
Centering on the reburial of beloved opera singer Fiodor Shaliapin from a Parisian cemetery to the Moscow Novo-Devitchye, Elegy examines the public and personal love for a man of enormous talent who remained unpardoned by the government for defecting from Russia. Sokurov draws from footage of Shaliapin and new footage of his mourners while using a sound track that contrasts his vocals with a burst of mid-1980s rock to convey the social discord of the time. 1986, Russia, video (original format 35mm), in Russian with English subtitles, 30 minutes.