In Skazka, Alexander Sokurov weaves digital magic to create a phantasmagorical vision of the Afterlife, worthy of Dante. But wait: are we in the limbo of Purgatory, or a paradoxical Paradise reserved for notorious men of world history? Mussolini, Stalin, Hitler, Churchill and more: all are present and accounted for. Since they exist only as archival media images, each figure comes in a serial set.
In the blackest of political comedies, these fallen men beg, in turn, to be let through Heaven’s Gate – but the angels who peek through never open wide. Little wonder, as the former leaders wander listlessly, bitching (in a Babel of multiple languages) about each other’s clothes, hair and hygiene.
In what is effectively a work of animation, Sokurov has pulled together many talents into an extraordinary technological feat. It blends pictorial elements from art history to form an endlessly unfolding landscape, replete with fog and ghostly armies of the sacrificed victims of history. Announced as Sokurov’s last film, Skazka is an inspired riff on the high culture of Peter Greenaway mixed with the low culture of mash-up artists Soda_Jerk. Can we now expect some entrepreneur to bring us the interactive Skazka video game?
入围华沙电影节前两部竞赛。
Rebellious teenager Natsumi arrives from Tokyo on a small provincial island in search of the treasure left by her deceased mother. She’s in shock to find out that Reiko – her aunt – is a local Ama-San, a traditional Japanese pearl diver. Reiko is her mother’s identical twin sister. Because of the yearslong conflict between the sisters, the aunt and the girl have never met or even heard about each other till now. The aunt is reluctant to welcome the girl, who reminds her of her bitter past, and wants to get rid of her. Natsumi has to find a way to resolve the old conflict and reunite the family to find the underwater treasure left by her mother and save herself from the big trouble she is in. Japanese 1990s pop songs from the aunt’s youth will be an unexpected ally.
Upon their mother’s death, siblings Jenny and Marshall return to renovate her crumbling motel, The Jolly Monkey. But as they work, a deadly force tied to their family’s dark past emerges, forcing them to face terrifying truths if they want to survive.
woman traveling to Italy for her sister's wedding has a layover in France, where a chance encounter with a French woman sparks an instant, life-altering connection.
By a twist of fate, a successful and rather audacious businesswoman ends up in a small house in the heart of the Carpathians instead of an expensive spa resort. Accustomed to luxury and control, the young executive must adapt to life in a rural cottage. However, the house's owner - military serviceman Nazar - unexpectedly returns, and their shared living arrangement becomes a r...