Last year a retrospective was dedicated to the video work of Alexander Sokurov in Rotterdam. It was to a certain extent a discovery, as many saw Sokurov as a real maker of film. However video turned out to be an interesting - and economically viable - medium for the Russian master.Povinnost' is a long and detailed film, inspired by the diary of a submarine captain. The film is made up of five parts and is an investigation into the thoughts and feelings of the captain, a kind of monologue intérieure, or a cinematographic novel in monologue firm, about the life of the captain, his career and the fate of his country, Russia.This film essay is hardly a 'documentary' in the traditional sense of the word. The literary form prevails on the screen, the metaphorical narrative has been put in second place to the literal word and images. These images are hardly ever autonomous, but are directly linked to sentences and words, sometimes even through one single word. Using editing and a meticulously compiled soundtrack, the film-maker tries to break free of a natural approach to things, in order to fathom an inner and personal truth.
- Director
- Alexander Sokurov
- Country of production
- Russia
- Year
- 1998
- Festival Edition
- IFFR 1999
- Length
- 260'
- Medium
- Betacam SP PAL
- Original title
- Povinnost'
- Language
- Russian
- Producers
- Nadezda Studio, Svetlana Voloshina
- Sales
- Nadezda Studio
- Screenplay
- Alexander Sokurov
- Editor
- Alexander Sokurov