Aleksandra (Alexandra) (2007)

89% of critics liked it
(57 reviews)
69% of users liked it
(1,222 ratings)

Though Russian director Alexander Sokurov's feature Alexandra unfolds against the backdrop of military life, it constitutes a stark and deliberate chamber drama in lieu of a war picture. Alexandra Nikolaevna (Galina Vishnevskaya) is an elderly woman with a grandson, Denis (Vasily Shevtsov),… More Though Russian director Alexander Sokurov's feature Alexandra unfolds against the backdrop of military life, it constitutes a stark and deliberate chamber drama in lieu of a war picture. Alexandra Nikolaevna (Galina Vishnevskaya) is an elderly woman with a grandson, Denis (Vasily Shevtsov), conscripted into the army of the Chechen Republic. When she makes the arduous journey to visit him, the startling nature of military life as it unfolds before her eyes -- the absence of women, the blind acceptance of amenities that so many take for granted, the emotional inexpressiveness -- completely bewilders her and introduces her to a world infinitely more alien than any she has ever experienced. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 34 min.
Directed By: Aleksandr Sokurov
Genres: Drama

In Theaters: May 25, 2007 Wide
On DVD: Apr 28, 2009
Studio: The Cinema Guild

Critic Reviews

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader
At least one critic has called this Sokurov's most political film, but on its deepest level it considers not a particular war but the complex feelings between mothers and the young men they send out into the world to kill or be killed.
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
Remarkable, how little Sokurov tells us, while telling us so much.
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune
The film is built on a massive incongruity: Watching this octogenarian drag her little bent-up wheeled luggage cart, amid rolling tanks and military transport trucks, you're looking at two eternal verities%u2014war, and civilians caught up in its wake%u20
Wesley Morris, Boston Globe
Alexandra is a pleasure to watch, but it's also one of those lovely, unclassifiable movies that flourishes better with repeated or prolonged exposures.
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle
In the hands of visionary filmmaker Alexander Sokurov, this simple material makes for a haunting drama about war, generational relationships and the human condition.
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune
Without mounting a soap box, the film makes eloquent points about the struggle.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
An unusual masterpiece atmospheric anti-war film that is an example of cinema as pure feeling.
Fernando F. Croce, CinePassion
Eccentric and tender, it is a picture out for grace rather than polemics, and it finds enough to make one see emotional intimacy anew
Derek Malcolm, This is London
Sokurov is able to say things about the terrible conflict without obvious polemic but to the maximum possible effect. That's largely why he is one of the most audacious and original directors in the world today.
Anthony Quinn, Independent
His sepia images of war's futility are beautiful, and Vishnevskaya's face is a compelling one, but they cannot compensate for the soporific anti-narrative.
Nigel Andrews, Financial Times
The eerie haze of the visuals, the half-babble of music and the toneless, teasing dialogue dance attendance on the strangest ghost of all: Galina Vishnevskaya.
Sam Wigley, Total Film
Shot in shades of bleached-out khaki brown and augmented by a heart-rending orchestral score, it's a unique and intensely moving elegy for wasted lives.
Tim Evans, Sky Movies
It's a film of small details rather than big gestures...and all the more powerful for it.
Sukhdev Sandhu, Daily Telegraph
But Aleksandr Sokurov, with the mesmerising and subtly disorientating directorial style that he has mastered, makes it feel emotionally real and imaginatively true. A wonderful film.
Cath Clarke, Guardian [UK]
A bone-weariness pervades every inch of the film; even the light is bleached dry of vitality.
James Christopher, Times [UK]
Apart from a thoroughly irritating background track of schmaltzy classical music, this is Sokurov at his shortest and most digestible.

Read all 16 critic reviews

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Walter M

[font=Century Gothic]Previously with "Russian Ark," Alexander Sokurov had given a cinematic tour of the Hermitage that served as a lesson on Russian history. With his latest film, "Alexandra," Sokurov again gives a guided tour, this time of an army base in… More
[font=Century Gothic]Previously with "Russian Ark," Alexander Sokurov had given a cinematic tour of the Hermitage that served as a lesson on Russian history. With his latest film, "Alexandra," Sokurov again gives a guided tour, this time of an army base in occupied territory, seen through the eyes of Alexandra(Galina Vishnevskaya), who is visiting her grandson(Vasily Shevtsov), a captain in the army. As she wanders through the army camp, she is shocked at the state of the soldiers. On the one hand, warfare is nothing new to Russia.(Assuming she is at least 80, then she must remember World War II. There is a quick flashback to reinforce this notion...) But what may separate this conflict(Probably Chechnya...) is that it is fought so close to home against an enemy that while fighting for independence, many consider still part of the mother country. In the end, this is a touching call for peace and for the soldiers to return home safety(All of the characters suffer from loneliness to one degree or another.) while rejecting the comic possibilities of the premise by filming in faded color.(Think about it this way. How many soldiers or officers would not become a laughingstock if their grandmother came to visit?)[/font]