How I Ended This Summer (2010)

79% of critics liked it
(43 reviews)
70% of users liked it
(1,096 ratings)

On a desolate island in the Arctic Circle, two men work at a small meteorological station, taking readings from their radioactive surroundings. Sergei, a gruff professional in his fifties, takes his job very seriously. His new partner, bright eyed college grad Pavel, retreats to his MP3 player and… More On a desolate island in the Arctic Circle, two men work at a small meteorological station, taking readings from their radioactive surroundings. Sergei, a gruff professional in his fifties, takes his job very seriously. His new partner, bright eyed college grad Pavel, retreats to his MP3 player and video games to avoid Sergei's imposing presence. One day while Sergei is out, inexperienced Pavel receives terrible news for Sergei from HQ. Intimidated, Pavel can't bring himself to disclose the information. When the truth is finally revealed, the consequences explode against a chilling backdrop of thick fog, sharp rocks, and the merciless Arctic Sea. -- (C) Film Movement

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Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 2 hr. 4 min.
Directed By: Aleksei Popogrebsky
Genres: Art House & International, Drama

In Theaters: Jan 28, 2010 Limited
On DVD: May 10, 2011
Studio: Film Movement

Critic Reviews

Walter V. Addiego, San Francisco Chronicle
What stays with the viewer is a sense of a man unraveling from his own mistakes and weaknesses.
V.A. Musetto, New York Post
Just when you think that nothing more is going to happen, all hell breaks loose in the form of a deadly game of cat and mouse.
Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com
How I Ended This Summer combines memorable images of the gorgeous, rugged wilderness, meticulous sound design that emphasizes the characters' isolation, a dash of dark wit and a dose of madness.
Nick Pinkerton, Village Voice
Playing an ignoble protagonist, Dobrygin keeps his motives always quietly evident; later, lost in a fog painted red by an emergency flare, he's an abject vision of man in a hell of his own making.
Stephen Holden, New York Times
Above all How I Ended This Summer is a merciless contemplation of the fragile human psyche under siege.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Bleak and unfulfilling psychological thriller set at a Russian meteorological camp on a desolate island in the Arctic Circle.
Simon Weaving, Screenwize
A cinematic and dramatic treat, this spectacular piece of contemporary Russian filmmaking follows two meteorologists stationed on a remote Arctic island. An allegory on old and new Russia, it's part art-house thriller and part atmospheric poetry.
Alistair Harkness, Scotsman
Though gripping for large stretches, the lack of forthcoming information - especially with regards to Pavel - proves more frustrating than enigmatic, with the tension dissipating at crucial moments.
Philip French, Guardian [UK]
It has a pared down quality that invites, indeed virtually compels, the viewer to see it as some kind of allegory.
Anthony Quinn, Independent
It proceeds at a dour and Russian kind of pace, mildly intriguing without ever cranking up the pressure to become compelling.
Matthew Turner, ViewLondon
It proceeds at a dour and Russian kind of pace, mildly intriguing without ever cranking up the pressure to become compelling.
Allan Hunter, Daily Express
The unravelling of trust and compassion is not always convincing but director Alexsei Popogrebsky's sense of place and pace ensures that it remains thoroughly compelling.
Peter Bradshaw, Guardian [UK]
A gripping, involving and wonderfully acted piece of work.
Tim Robey, Daily Telegraph
How I Ended This Summer is everything you could want from a tense two-hander set at an isolated Siberian weather station.
Adam Woodward, Little White Lies
Popogrebsky's film eloquently typifies Russian cinema's current frame of mind.
Sloan Freer, Radio Times
It's the complex performances that keep the simple narrative compelling, with Puskepalis, in the less showy role, conveying a quiet threat that racks up the tension during the unpredictable final third.
Henry Fitzherbert, Daily Express
An atmospheric, beautifully photographed but ultimately rather pointless existential Russian drama about two contrasting men stuck together on a deserted Arctic island to record meteorological data.
Derek Malcolm, This is London
Part psychological thriller, part a paean to the beauty and remoteness of its setting, How I Ended This Summer is shot by cinematographer Pavel Kostomarov with rare and atmospheric skill.
Antonia Quirke, Financial Times
It's as though everything repressed and unconscious has become real enough to be photographed. What a terrific film.
Tom Dawson, Total Film
The polar landscapes and fluctuating weather are superbly shot, while there are compelling turns from the two actors, who bravely perform their own stunts.

Read all 25 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Walter M

"How I Ended This Summer" is a suspenseful movie, yet not in a traditional sense, as it neatly paced in a slow burn in a remote weather station that has an uneasy blend of ancient and new technology(for example, it is especially awkward trying to do an emoticon over the… More
"How I Ended This Summer" is a suspenseful movie, yet not in a traditional sense, as it neatly paced in a slow burn in a remote weather station that has an uneasy blend of ancient and new technology(for example, it is especially awkward trying to do an emoticon over the radio) on an island in the Russian Arctic in the permanent daylight of summer. And if I have any serious problem with this movie, it is that it does not take as much advantage of its unique setting as it should but then the conflict here involves more humans than nature. I am sure at some point that Pavel(Grigoriy Dobrygin) thought that the job would be easy enough money, requiring a few simple measurements, sleep, playing video games, sleep and listening to his iPod. Then, there is a very good reason that his older co-worker Sergei(Sergey Puskepalis) tells him about the time he held off a pack of polar bears with just a toothbrush, in that the land is unforgiving and to always be prepared. This also has a side effect of intimidating Pavel and it is not until a scene in a sauna that we realize how lanky Pavel really is underneath all of his bulky clothing. In any case, Sergei has been around long enough not only to be cautious about possible dangers but as to what he can get away with when nobody is looking. So, he takes off for a few days to go trout fishing, leaving Pavel to take the measurements with the help of 'an alarm clock that could wake the dead' and if he gets hungry there is walrus meat(but no booze?). And that's when the news arrives from the mainland.
Panta O

First thing about this film is the number of rewards it received: from 60th Berlin International Film Festival got Silver Bear for Best Actor: Grigoriy Dobrygin and Sergei Puskepalis and Outstanding Artistic Achievement in the Category Camera: Pavel Kostomarov; from 7th Yerevan Golden… More
First thing about this film is the number of rewards it received: from 60th Berlin International Film Festival got Silver Bear for Best Actor: Grigoriy Dobrygin and Sergei Puskepalis and Outstanding Artistic Achievement in the Category Camera: Pavel Kostomarov; from 7th Yerevan Golden Apricot International Film Festival won Ecumenical Jury Award; from 2010 London Film Festival won Best Film; from 46th Chicago International Film Festival won Gold Hugo - Best Film and won Golden Eagle Award for the Best Film... In 124 minutes there is a lot of silence... heavy silence! The lack of dialogue made some in the audience wonder if the script is even ten pages long - but Alexei Popogrebski managed to use this crawling pace, typical of many Russian films, the best possible way. Minimalist approach managed to give us the dramatic life in that part of the world - Arctic Circle has different time zone to the rest of the world - there are quite a few moments where the passage of time is relayed through the frigid elements in time-lapse photography. Clouds, fog, the passing sun, the fading of day - they rush by quickly, speeding up the monotony of life on the arctic island. Later, as Pavel seeks every crevice of rock to hide in, his bunny-like nervousness seems to slow the day down, even as fast as he chooses to move. Time on the island moves quickly when you're moving slow, and slowly when you're running for your life. I don't want to spoil the story and I'll just say that How I Ended This Summer is an exploration into the fear that turns into hiding, the cover-ups as a lie explodes, and the ramifications as it tears into already fragile relationships.
Daniel P

Slow-paced but compelling and startlingly acted two-hander. Review soon.
Daisy M

How I ended this summer was a Russian psychological drama about two meteorologists, Sergei, and Pavel, who were stuck on an isolated island in the Artic polar station for a regular season work and since it was just the two of them , they had to deal with each other, and then one day… More
How I ended this summer was a Russian psychological drama about two meteorologists, Sergei, and Pavel, who were stuck on an isolated island in the Artic polar station for a regular season work and since it was just the two of them , they had to deal with each other, and then one day an information came in and that changed everything.Cinematography it was very slow pacing, with long shots and the wild nature scenes was breathtaking.The plot was very simple and the development happened in a continuous visual story telling, with less dialogues and pure acting and all these happened by just 2 characters.This is a movie that one must appreciate for what it is if that is the case, I highly recommend it.