Aleksandra (2007)

Director:

Aleksandr Sokurov

Writer:

Aleksandr Sokurov

Release Date:

26 September 2007 (France)

Genre:

Drama | War

Plot:

An elderly woman takes a train trip to visit her grandson at his army camp inside Chechnya. |

Plot Keywords:

Chechnya | Cult Director | Grandmother Grandson Relationship | Old Woman | Character Name In Title

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Galina Vishnevskaya	...	Aleksandra Nikolaevna
Vasily Shevtsov	...	Denis
Raisa Gichaeva	...	Malika
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Andrei Bogdanov
Aleksandr Kladko
Aleksei Neymyshev
Rustam Shakhgireev
Evgeniy Tkachuk

Directed by
Aleksandr Sokurov

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Aleksandr Sokurov

Produced by
Laurent Danielou	....	producer
Dmitriy Gerbachevskiy	....	executive producer
Andrey Sigle	....	producer

Original Music by
Andrey Sigle

Cinematography by
Aleksandr Burov

Film Editing by
Sergey Ivanov

Production Design by
Dmitri Malich-Konkov

Costume Design by
Lidiya Kryukova

Makeup Department
Zhanna Rodionova	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Lika Mokhova	....	assistant production manager
Dmitry Nikitin	....	production manager
Sergey Ramzaev	....	production manager
Anna Svetlakova	....	production manager

Sound Department
Vladimir Persov	....	sound

Special Effects by
Efim Berson	....	special effects
Igor Plaksin	....	special effects
Oleg Plaksin	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Alexey Goussev	....	visual effects producer: Algous Studio
Evgeny Mironenko	....	visual effects
Oleg Muranov	....	digital effects artist: Algous Studio

Music Department
Mikael Carlsson	....	soundtrack producer

Production Companies

• Proline Film
• Rézo Productions
• Russian Federation of Cinematography (with the support of)
• Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC) (with the support of)

Distributors

• Gravitas Ventures (2009) (USA) (video) (VOD)
• A-Film Distribution (2008) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Cinema Guild, The (2008) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Filmes do Estação (2009) (Brazil) (theatrical)
• Movimento Film (2008) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Pandora (2008) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Rezo Films International (2007) (France) (theatrical)
• Uzumasa (2008) (Japan) (theatrical)
• A-Film Home Entertainment (2008) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Koch Media (2009) (Italy) (DVD)
• Sagrera TV (2008) (Spain) (all media)

Other Companies

• Algous Studio  visual effects
• MovieScore Media  soundtrack

Also Known As:

"Alexandra" - France, International (English title)
"Александра" - Russia
"Aleksandra" - Poland
"Aleksandra" - Turkey (Turkish title)
"Alexandra" - Hungary (imdb display title)
"Alexandra" - Czech Republic
"Alexandra" - Portugal (imdb display title)
"Alexandra" - Greece
"Alexandra" - Belgium (French title)

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

Russia | France

Language:

Russian | Chechen

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Canada:14A | Netherlands:6 | South Korea:All | Portugal:M/12

Filming Locations:

Grozny, Chechnya, Russia

Company:

Proline Film

Goofs:

Continuity: (A 54:24) In Malika's house, Malika invites Alexandra to take her jacket off. Alexandra does so laboriously. 20 seconds later she's suddenly wearing it again, and works her way out of it once more.

A tender story of a grandmother's concern

I don't know many grandmothers that would take a troop train across Russia, then get on top a troop transport to visit their grandson (Vasily Shevtsov), an Army Captain in Chechnya. But this grandmother (Galina Vishnevskaya) did. It was certainly an arduous journey for the elderly woman.

The films color is appropriate for the hot and dirty climate where here grandson is stationed. The soldiers are all shirtless and just sit around waiting. The other soldiers watch her with fascination, probably thinking of home and their own grandmothers.

She makes her way to the market where cigarettes are priced depending upon you rank. The locals look at the Russians with disgust. She manages to connect with a local, Malika (Raisa Gichaeva), who treats her like a sister.

It is not a place for a grandmother, but she manages to connect again with her grandson before he goes off on a five-days mission, and she boards the troop train home.

It was only anti-war in a subtle sense. The futility of it all was visible, but not exaggerated. Maybe the futility was finally recognized as the Russians are to leave Chechnya soon.

A very good story.