A Simple Elegy

The sixth part of the group of Elegy, this documentary consists of five long plane-sequences to convey a picture of Lithuania during the period of economic blockade imposed by Russia. Filmed in the streets of Vilna and in the halls of the parliament, the heavy silence that pervades A Simple Elegy is broken only by the astonishing chords issuing from the piano of President Vitautas Landsbergis locked in his offices, immersed in deep meditation, playing the “Nocturns” by Ciurlionis, a famous Russian composer. The shouts from the mob, a second character in the film, that Sokúrov introduces as interacting with the President, resound from the outside. “Landsbergis was given a classical education and became an erudite man, a historian of culture and music. Perhaps every nation should have, at its head, a statesman with these characteristics”, says Sokúrov.

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