The Second Circle

“One day, every son will have to be equal to a sad task: burying the father. This is the principal and only event in this film, but is reported on in every detail, with epic simplicity.” The Russian film maker thus defines The Second Circle, a film that brings to the surface many of the connections lost in our lives, the drain on ancient rituals that, even in a recent past, still retained their content and significance. “Dead parents, dead cities, dead times... and lo and behold, we almost fail to distinguish between day and night, between life and non-existence.” The inheritance that a son is to receive from the father is of the same order as that imposed on us by our ancestors: a handful of false relics that we desperately try to lay hold of to summarize all of our existence, tragic consequences of the historical disillusion in our civilization.

Was born in 1951 in the city of Podorvikha, Russia. His work, even as a student, was unacceptable to Russian bureaucracy, and he was accused of formalism and of assuming "anti-Soviet views". His first feature, The Lonely Human Voice (1978, 26th Mostra) was refused as a graduating project by the VGIK, the Russian Cinema Institute. Sokurov`s films were shown in Brazil since 1997, at the 21st Mostra, with Mother and Son. He had a retrospective of 33 of his films at 26th Mostra, when was also released the first book in Portuguese about his work, Aleksandr Sokúrov, by publishing house Cosac Naify. Among his most important films are Dolce (1999, 24th Mostra), Elegy of a Voyage (2001, 25th Mostra), The Russian Arc (2002, 26th Mostra), Father and Son (2003, 27th Mostra) Alexandra (2007, 32nd Mostra), in addition to the films that complete the Power Tetralogy: Moloch (1999, 23rd Mostra) about Hitler; Taurus, about Lenin (2001, 26th Mostra), and The Sun, about the Japanese emperor Hirohito (2005, 30th Mostra).

43ª MOSTRA INTERNACIONAL DE CINEMA

43ª MOSTRA INTERNACIONAL DE CINEMA