Alexandra

Dir: Alexander Sokurov

2007

***

Alexander Sokurov’s subtle critic of the Chechen War is a deep meditation that really works over time. I can’t say I was that enamored by it while I was watching it but days later it still had me thinking and pondering its intention. It’s a difficult film and one that follows its own pace. I wouldn’t quite compare it to Tarkovsky but Sokurov certainly has found an otherworldly way of looking a people and situations and somehow makes the horror of war seem a little like a dream. We follow Aleksandra Nikolaevna after she is invited by her grandson, Denis, a senior lieutenant in the Russian Army, to visit his military base in Chechnya. Her journey is aided by soldiers who have been ordered to be her escorts. But it is a lawless land; the two young happy-go-lucky conscripts who assist Nikolaevna on to an armoured train are assailed shortly after saying goodbye at the station. On arrival at the army camp, Aleksandra is taken to her grandson's platoon area and told to wait but she refuses to sit inside the tents because of the sweltering summer heat. Wandering around, she meets and interacts with the young soldiers on the base. Many are standoffish at first but soon, after she shares some pies, some begin to talk to her. She returns to the tents to find Denis had returned. They hug and exchange pleasantries. Later Aleksandra meets her grandson's commanding officer who shows her around the base; he also questions her as to her reasons for visiting. He explains that Denis is a good officer but the request asking for permission for his grandmother to visit was bemusing. The next day she decides to leave the cantonments and visit the local market despite the reservations of the soldiers on guard duty. Nevertheless, she insists on going so they then ask her to get cigarettes and biscuits. In the town she discovers that many of the locals are hostile towards her because she is Russian. However she soon starts talking to an elderly Chechen woman named Malika who explains she was a teacher before the war. The local lady explains that many of the young people have been irreparably changed by the fighting. Malika gives Aleksandra some cigarettes and biscuits before inviting her back to her war-ravaged apartment where they drink tea and talk. Aleksandra thanks Malika and promises to return and pay her for the supplies. A local boy is then asked to take Aleksandra back to the Russian army camp. Although initially aggressive to her because she is a Russian, his attitude softens when she tells him that people should not be labelled together and that intelligence is more powerful than war. On arrival back at base, Aleksandra distributes the cigarettes and biscuits among the soldiers. Some then take her to a mess where she is given a hot meal. Aleksandra then returns to Denis' quarters where she finds her grandson mulling over his life in the army after he had to strike a soldier for disobeying him. After talking about their lives, Denis soon brightens up and plaits his grandmother's hair while she promises to find him a wife. The next day, Aleksandra is woken up by Denis who tells her she has to leave now because he and his men are going on a five-day mission. Slowly the elderly lady gathers her things before making one last walk through the camp saying goodbye to the soldiers she met. At the gate, she says goodbye to Denis as he climbs onto an armoured vehicle and to his commanding officer who silently acknowledges the good her trip has done to her grandson and the men under his command. Aleksandra then walks back to town where she meets Malika and her local friends. Refusing to take any money for the cigarettes and biscuits, the group walk Aleksandra back to the armoured train. Aleksandra gives Malika her address asking her to come and visit her in Russia. She then boards a rolling car. The train moves off with Aleksandra waving from the doorway. With the train's departure, Malika turns and walks away with a grim expression. Aleksandra rides along looking out across the desolate empty fields of Chechnya. It’s hard to know what it all means, or if it even happened. It certainly feels dreamlike and desolate, like it was something imagined by a lost soul – perhaps Denis at war, or maybe even Aleksandra at home. It feels as if Denis is remembering his grandmother and letting her go, or maybe Aleksandra is dying at home, thinking about her grandson. Either way, it feels like a goodbye. As I was watching I felt nothing but frustration though, as it wasn’t clear what was happening. It is only after a few days thinking about it, does it have me wondering whether it was as simple as it first appeared. If it was in fact real and not a dream, I can appreciate the point of view of an older person and appreciate the anti-war message, but there must be more to it than that. For once it is entirely up to the audience to ponder.