HOW I ENDED THIS SUMMER
Written and directed by Alexei Popogrebsky
Produced by Roman Borisevich & Alexander Kushaev
Released by Film Movement
Russian with English subtitles
Russia. 130 min. Not Rated
With Grigory Dobrygin & Sergei Puskepalis
 

Some of the best science-fiction films, like Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey and Tarkovsky’s Solaris, explore isolation and alienation amid the vastness of outer space. Similarly, Alexei Popogrebsky’s How I Ended This Summer could well be taking place on another planet, so remote is the Siberian setting for its solitary protagonists.

At an inaccessible Arctic polar station, Sergei, a veteran and stoic meteorologist in his late forties, has been joined by a new assistant, college grad Pavel, who prefers keeping to himself while blasting loud music through his headphones. The men's days comprise of calling in their readings of radioactive material to headquarters. Aside from  these exchanges, radio voices filled with static are the film’s lone links to civilization. Writer-director Alexei Popogrebsky, who has a degree in psychology, trenchantly explores the fragility of the human psyche, especially when confronted with unspeakable tragedy while alone.

While Sergei is off on a fishing trip (that was not authorized), Pavel receives a message from HQ that Sergei's wife and son have been injured in a serious accident. Unable to bring himself to relay that information, Pavel instead hopes that the rescue ship scheduled to pick them up will arrive soon and relieve him of that burden. Soon, however, the men find themselves in a cat-and-mouse game exacerbated by Pavel’s paranoia over his failure to tell Sergei the fateful news. After he finally does so, a strangely riveting battle royal plays out against the beautiful but dangerous surroundings that highlight the puniness of man when confronted by the mercilessness of nature.

Popogrebsky—whose direction can most charitably be described as slow and methodical—shoots the intimidating and awesome vistas in a series of magnificent, extreme long shots. Director of photography Pavel Kostomarov manages to catch the unique sunlight during this Arctic region’s endless summer days in all its alternating bright and grayish gradients. The landscape becomes the men’s antagonist, and if there are too many of these imposing views during the 130-minute running time, the director compensates with a truly breathtaking final shot, which slowly but emphatically morphs from darkness to a light that eventually whitens the entire screen, figuratively swallowing up everything in sight. Grigory Dobrygin (Pavel) and Sergei Puskepalis (Sergei) inhabit their roles persuasively and completely, showing how these men develop a tenuous bond that’s borne out of a sheer survival instinct, despite the obvious differences in their personalities and ages.

That the film’s skeleton crew and cast actually lived together for months while filming would definitely make for an intriguing making-of documentary on the upcoming DVD release, but the finished film, a chilling and explosive psychological study, provides more than enough food for thought about how ordinary people react in adverse and extraordinary circumstances. Kevin Filipski
February 4, 2011