The Dialogues with Solzhenitsyn (2000)

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The Dialogues with Solzhenitsyn (2000)

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In this evocative portrait of Alexander Solzhenitsyn, director Alexander Sokurov interprets the acclaimed writer s life based on two lengthy talks with Solzhenitsyn and his wife. DIALOGUES is not a straightforward biography but instead focuses on Solzhenitsyn s monologues and his discussions with Sokurov about Russian literature, folklore, history, and language. The result is a portrait of a Russian legend through his own words.

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The Dialogues with Solzhenitsyn (2000)

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In the beginning of Solzhenitsyn's Gulag Archipelago, a story is told where an expedition at the Kolyma River discovers a fish that has been perfectly preserved in the ice lens for thousands of years. The peasants broke open the ice and devoured the fish on the spot.
In "Dialogues" Russian filmmaker Alexander Sokurov dutifully preserves Solzhenitsyn on film for generations to come. A slight diffused focused image runs throughout the four part documentary, and many moments (some more magical than others) keep the camera rolling, framed on the author just relaxing, contemplating, and in repose for minutes. It's almost as if Sokurov is in a state of wonder, basking in the notion that here is a Russian great, still alive, and we, in our great fortune, are able to give him proper due.
Sokurov is committed to promoting the legacy and continuum of Russian writers, filmmakers, and artists. He has made films about Rostropovich, Tarkovsky, Dostoyevsky, and the Hermitage.

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The Dialogues with Solzhenitsyn (2000)

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The film begins with a short documentary (using still photographs) of Solzhenitsyn's life, going through wartime, imprisonment and exile, bout with cancer, exile in Vermont USA, and then back to Russia. The first interview is symbolic and the most magical, as filmmaker and writer walk through the woods on a path, sitting on one bench after another. We get the sense that with each stop and ensuing conversation, he is revealing another layer to Sokurov, and finally, instead of following the path to the end, they opt for an alternate route. The author's wife Natalia Svetlova is also interviewed in their home.
Topics include the review process by which the Solzhenitsyn's provide aid for former wartime prisoners; vocabulary; syntax; war; God; religion; the involvement of Wall Street in the Bolshevik Revolution; the role of the artist; realism in art; the creative process; Solzhenitsyn's 10-volume novel, the Red Wheel; Chekov; the author Andrei Platonov; cruelty; suffering as an enrichment of the soul; technological progress vs. the enrichment of one's soul; and of course, the meaning of life.