HOW I ENDED THIS SUMMER

Ma's View:

Set in a remote part of the Arctic Circle, the story traces the tensions that arise between 2 men, who man a Russian weather station, Sergei (Sergei Puskepalis), the old hand and Pasha (Grigory Dobrygin), the young college kid just working there as a summer job.  The third and most powerful protagonist in the drama is nature itself - the immense and desolate landscape, the unpredictable weather and the ever present threat of polar bear attack.  Throw into the mix a deteriorating nuclear power generator and it is enough to send the sanest person crazy!  Sergei is used to it and gets on with the job but  he makes no allowance for his young companion's lack of experience and need of support.  No trust develops between the two, so that when bad news of Sergei's family arrives while he is off on a fishing jaunt, Pasha is fearful of telling  him.

This is a long film, 124 minutes, allowing the isolation, boredom and the oppressiveness of the landscape  to seep into the viewer's very soul through the superb cinematography and sound track of  Director Aleksei Popogrebsky.  Meanwhile the tension builds between the 2 mismatched men and a battle for survival ensues.  The silent, stoic Sergei could be said to represent the old Russia, while Pasha, with his mastery of and yet dependence upon technology, represents the new, less resilient Russia.  Leave that aside, this is a typically Russian movie, with deep undercurrents of emotion and a bleak outcome - it reduces man to a mere spot on the landscape, a creature whose life and loves are of no consequence whatsoever.

A movie not for the faint-hearted!

My score:  7.5/10

Pepe's View:

Ma had just given a wonderful description of this movie.  I am not quite so rapturous however, as for me it was far too long.  The cinematography and wide shots of the tiny settlement consisting of one house set in the midst of a wasteland was repeated just too many times for me. I got the idea after the second shot. It does show how nature is far more powerful than man and that our hold on this earth is transitory at best and for this and the cinematography I enjoyed the film  The story however, did not grab me and I began to wish that the ship would hurry up and arrive so I could also leave this interminable experience.

My Score:  6.5/10