HOW
I ENDED THIS SUMMER (2010)
SUNDAY 12th FEBRUARY 10.00 am
TUESDAY 14TH FEBRUARY 8.30 pm
RUNNING TIME 124 MINS
RATED M
SYNOPSIS
Grigory Dorbygin (Pasha) is a young intern with the experienced
Sergei (Segei Puskepalis) in the isolated wilderness of a Russian
arctic island meteorological station. When Pasha takes a personal
and dramatic message for Sergei but fails to pass it on, guilt
begins to grow and his small lapse soon grows into a tumour
on his heart and soul.
Review by Andrew L. Urban
Filled with cinematic gems, from the time lapse photography of
the landscape to the raw storyline (Ingmar Bergman comes to
mind), the film has an immersive quality with its magnetic
subtlety. It starts promisingly and proceeds with dramatic
grip until the third act, where filmmaker Aleksei Popogrebsky
lets the reins fall from his storytelling hands.
Using the power of close ups and the possibilities of this stark
landscape, Popogrebsky ignites our curiosity with his laconic
style. The two men, whose relationship is at first mentor and
trainee, hardly communicate but for the purposes of their work.
It's a basic sort of relationship and the setting underlines
their isolation in the arctic summer. Both actors are terrific.
It's only when the crackling short wave radio on which they
communicate regularly with their HQ brings bad personal news
for Sergei that the dynamics are altered. Pasha (officially Pavel)
can't find the right moment to pass on the message, first because
he gets in trouble with Sergei for failing his duty when the
news is fresh, and later because it gets ever more difficult
to find the right moment.
Popogrebsky is rightly fascinated by what can develop from such
a seemingly small failure and manages to keep us on edge as we
wait for Pasha's realisation that he can no longer keep the message
secret. The film's tone is beautifully maintained, and Dmitri
Katkhanov's sparse score works a treat.
All of this works well, until Popogrebsky makes a few flawed
decisions of his own. The film then presents us with some decisions
that the characters make which I find hard to accept, but they
are crucial to the film's resolution. Flawed, but exceptional
all the same.
Source: www.urbancinefile.com.au
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