Days of the Eclipse - Alexander Sokurov (U.S.S.R., 1988) July 30, 2008

(Dni zatmenia). Shot on the lunar plains of Central Asia, Days of the Eclipse was chosen by Russian critics as one of the ten most important films of the glasnost period. Andrei Tarkovsky’s influence is readily apparent in this enigmatic science fiction allegory based on a work by the authors of Tarkovsky’s classic Stalker. Eclipse follows a young doctor who is sent to a remote, unnamed village in the ancient land of eastern Russia. His research, which slowly takes on the nature of a spiritual quest, involves discovering the reasons for the town’s low mortality rate. When unseen forces begin to pressure his friends into committing suicide, the film becomes a powerful microcosm of Stalinism and its legacy. Russian critic Victor Bozhovich best evokes the film’s power: “This is a strange film, mysterious beyond all limits. I watch it again and again, wandering inside it as if through a labyrinth of ruins.”

• Written by Yuri Arabov, Petr Kadochnikov, based on the novel A Million Years Before the Apocalypse by Arkadi and Boris Strugatski. Photographed by Sergei Yurizditsky. With Alexei Ananishnov, Eskender Umarov, Vladimir Zamansky, Irina Sokolova. (133 mins, In Russian with English subtitles, Color, ’Scope, 35mm, PFA Collection)

Official Website: http://bampfa.berkeley.edu/film/FN17098