Alexander Sokurov has been nominated for the Palme D’Or at Cannes five times. To achieve something like that, a director must have a way with crafting strikingly original films, and while “Alexandra” may reek of a Disney high concept film on paper (What if your grandmother followed you out to your military base?), it achieves a level of uniqueness and tender emotion that I hadn’t expected.
The film follows an elderly Russian woman named Alexandra (Galina Vishnevskaya) traveling to a military base in Chechnya to visit her grandson Denis (Vasily Shevtsov) following the recent death of her husband. Denis has been away for seven years, and she’s “no good by herself.” Continue reading “Alexandra”