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FATHER AND SON
Directed by: Alexander Sokurov.
Produced by: Thomas Kufus.
Written by: Serguey Potepalov.
Director of Photography: Alexander Burov.
Edited by: Sergey Ivanov.
Music by: Andrey Sigle, based on themes by Peter Tchaikovsky.
Released by: Wellspring.
Language: Russian.
Country of Origin: Russia/Germany/Netherlands/Portugal. 84 min. Not Rated.
With: Andrey Schetinin & Aleksey Neymyshev.

Opening with close-up images of two nude male bodies writhing over heavy breathing, director Alexander Sokurov (Russian Ark) tantalizes. Are these lovers or is what we’re seeing an act of comfort? Bathed in golden light and visually dream-like throughout, it is the sensual, ambiguous depiction of this father and son relationship that will solely sustain interest. And the homoerotic overtones are no accident. Besides beginning with the well-built father holding his 20-year-old blond Mikhail Baryshnikov look-alike son in his arms, the two handsome men are repeatedly filmed in close two-shots, face-to-face, examining each other. Or the father hovers directly behind his son, breathing down his neck. It’s also emphasized in the casting - the dark-haired father looks more like an older brother than a father, flaunting his fitness by exercising shirtless.

Their intimate relationship is also an apparent Oedipus rivalry. The son, Alexei, reveals he has had a dream where he kills his father. But later, with obvious religious undertones, Alexei knowingly informs an ex-girlfriend, “A loving father crucifies, a loving son lets himself be crucified.” Yet, the father behaves more like a wounded lover. In fact, it is the son, not the father, who reassures, “You won’t be alone. You’ll get married.” The relationship is, at times, moving. But for those not familiar with Sokurov’s work, the opaque, exclusive dialogue, surreal reality and the cryptic relationships may come across as ponderous and pretentious. Those with little patience may want to give Alexei some advice imparted by Linda Tripp to older-man-chaser Monica Lewinsky: just f*** your father and get it over with. Kent Turner
June 18, 2004