Pyotr Mamanov’s back yard

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Jul 132008
 

I had read in several places that Pyotr Mamanov became a convert to the Russian Orthodox Church and left Moscow to live in a village. Here is a YouTube clip that apparently shows the village he moved to. I like scenes of peoples’ back yards like in this one, where he goes out to feed his dog and cats.

I wish I could understand more than a few disconnected words and phrases of what he’s saying.

One thing that strikes me from the movie, Ostrov, is how on one hand the character he plays can say to the boy with the leg that won’t heal, “on dobroye” (speaking of God) and on the other he is tormented by his sins and afraid to face God after he dies. But that’s a way that people can be.

(OK, I just now learned that BlogDesk, which I usually use for posting, couldn’t handle Cyrillic characters. But the WordPress editor can.)

Ostrov

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Jul 112008
 

ostrov

Tonight we finished watching Ostrov. Some random comments:

  • Some of the camera work (and scenery) reminded me of Vozvrashcheniye (The Return), which is the first Russian movie I watched, and which I still think is the best one I’ve seen. I’ll give Ostrov a “5” at Netflix, too, though.
  • This is the first film in which I’ve heard a Russian chorus, sacred or otherwise, singing off-key. I thought it perhaps wasn’t possible.
  • I was surprised that the big surprise near the end wasn’t a lot more surprising for the participants. I presume it was done this way on purpose. I have no reason to think it was due to a lack of acting ability.
  • I see that Pyotr Mamanov really is against abortion.
  • My wife was wondering why Father Job is called Job. Do Russian monks really take that name? And what is the symbolism. Why wasn’t he called Father Cain? He had a good way of demonstrating Cain’s sacrifice.

I’ll be watching it at least once more before sending it back, for language-learning purposes.

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