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81 of 82 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A spiritual and cinema tic triumph!, August 6, 2007
This review is from: Ostrov (The Island), NTSC version with English subtitles (DVD)
Pavel Lungin's new Russian film OSTROV ("Island") has taken Russia by storm and made quite an impression at Sundance. Is this film about Orthodox Christian spirituality really worth the hype or is its appeal very limited.
Ostrov is worth every second of your time! It is beautiful, touching, and truly profound. The basic plot is about Anatoli, a young Russian boiler-stoker during WWII. Captured by the Nazis, he chooses the coward's route and shoots his Captain to save himself. The Nazis still bow up his barge and he washes ashore on a tiny island monastery in the Barents Sea. Thirty years later, he's Father Anatoli--and is he a madman-boiler stoker, or is a a near-Saint who can heal and who knows things?
Father Anatoli is still repenting, despite seeking God's infinite forgiveness, and this is the theological crux of the film: The free grace/cost-of-discipleship paradox. This spiritual conundrum is hardly unique to Orthodox Christianity! Pious Lutherans will recall Nazi-executed Minster/Theologian Deitrich Bonhoeffer's book, 'The Cost of Discipleship,' for instance.
Anatoli uses his gifts to be a Fool for Christ, who, through humility, can identify the prideful sins of others-- Father Job's vanity at book learning, Father Filaret's covetousness, etc. Although being a Fool for Christ is more understood in Orthodoxy, the concept exists in the west--witness "Blasillo el Bobo" in the classic Spanish novel 'San Manuel Bueno, Martir' by Unamuno.
The acting in Ostrov is superb, the casting subtle and sublime. The cinematography (wide-screen monochromatic)is stunning.
This is a must see for anyone interested in spirituality or repentance.
A final note-- in both message and deliberate pacing, OSTROV is a splendid reproach to our quick-fix society, and the spiritual quick-fix, as Father John the Hieromonk of St. Michael's Skete in Canones, NM points out in a recent article.
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25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Very Different Kind of Film, November 9, 2007
This review is from: Ostrov (The Island), NTSC version with English subtitles (DVD)
I just saw the film this evening and thoroughly enjoyed it although I would say it is definitely not for everyone. If you like films about Russians, spiritual themes, and bleak yet beautiful places then this movie is for you.
Interestingly I read several reviews on Google and they were all uniformly negative, a view with which I do not agree. I suspect the reviewers are fairly young as they didn't seem to understand that Anatoly actually does have clairvoyant powers in the film, or that there are actually people who would feel tremendous guilt if they had killed someone to save themselves. I found the lack of comprehension by U.S. reviewers of what this movie was about to be far more disturbing than any actual flaw in the film itself.
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33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Layers of Meaning with and without English Sub-Titles, August 13, 2007
This review is from: Ostrov (The Island), NTSC version with English subtitles (DVD)
CD-Video PAL version from Kiev Monastery:
Every year I visit my in-laws in Ukraine. I don't know the Slavic languages but watch Russian & Ukrainian movies without English sub-titles & try to follow along. Knowing the basics of Eastern Orthodox monasticism & the historical influence of the Starets; a monk or lay person who by spiritual struggle united with God's grace can cure human physical & spiritual problems, watching the superb acting & story line, at first one may think that they may not need the English sub-titles to understand this movie. The movie is about the spiritual struggles of Anatoli, who in World War Two was captured by the Nazi navy during a coal barge delivery. Because he worked in the boiler room, his cough gave away his hiding place & with fear turned in his best friend & captain, who he may of mistakenly shot with a gun given by the Nazi captain. The Nazis leave & Anatoli thinks he is free but doesn't know of the TNT that the Nazi's had loaded aboard. The barge blows up & Anatoli is washed ashore by a small remote monastery, where the monks rescue him. 30 years later he is a semi-Staret or Fool for Christ, a person who acts out rather than speaks direct about people's problems. Many come to visit Anatoli because they have heard that God answers his prayers, but each day Anatoli rows out to a small island where he confesses his past sin against his friend & captain. Unknown to Anatoli an Admiral hears of a famous Staret & goes to the monastery to find a cure for his sick daughter. Can the Admiral set Anatoli free? Watch this profound & moving movie with or with-out the sub-titles. The Moscow Patriarch Alexy II said the movie was a "vivid example of an effort to take a Christian approach to culture."
DVD NTSC Version with English subtitles:
The DVD I bought though Amazon.com via the "options" which turned out to be a Russian supplier from Norway that shipped the DVD from New York. I got fast service & the DVD came within 3 days. The DVD is written totally in Russian with no written English translation & no inside cover book. I had to guess in the "Menu" section where the English sub-title switch was. In the main menu screen, go to the 2nd listing where you will find the audio sections. Enter in your audio section at the top of the screen, they are in English, then go to the bottom of the same screen, the English sub-title switch is the 2nd option.
Don't watch the previews which come with the DVD, most are about the Russian Mafia which is totally out of character with the movie.
Pro English Sub-Titles:
Okay I admit it, I did learn a few things with the English sub-titles. One part is where the main priest walks outside the coal heating room & looks in a big box & finds ropes inside. I now know why he was looking in it. I also didn't know the relationship between Anatoli & the Abbott was so close. A few other issues got cleared up with the English sub-titles. So much for my theory on Universal language :)
Con English Sub-Titles:
I do know a few Russian words & the English sub-titles were very Americanized. For example the 1st woman shown talking to Anatoli says something like "you are not a Staret" but the sub-tiles translate Staret as "Holy Man". A "Staret" will never think of himself as a "Holy Man" but a Sinner under God's grace. A better translation for "Staret" would be "Elder" or "Spiritual Director". Another example of a mis-translation is when the Abbott tells Anatoli he wants to "tonsure" him but in the Russian dialog the Abbott adds the word "Schema" which is a degree of monastism. You will never know what the Abbott is tonsuring Anatoli to, only that he wants to tonsure, which could mean "to make a monk". There are several other areas in the film which the English is not correct or clear. Therefore knowing a few basic Russian Orthodox words will add a layer of meaning to this fantastic movie.
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