Siberiade

Andrei Konchalovsky's 1979 epic—which chronicles some 60 years of Russian history (roughly 1909-1969) through the story of two families, the poor Ustyuzhanins and the wealthy Solomins, in the tiny village of Elam—was shown in the U.S. in a truncated 190-minute version, but this two-disc set features the full 260-minute cut of the original Soviet release. From a narrative perspective, the film essentially follows the lives of men representing three generations of Ustyuzhanins—Afanasy, who madly tries to chop a road through the forest single-handedly; Nikolai, who becomes part of the Bolshevik revolution and later works to bring the area in line with Communist principles; and Alexei, who returns to the region after World War II as part of an oil-drilling team. But the film is really a sprawling cinematic paean to the land of Siberia itself, capturing its haunting beauty in striking cinematography, while also conveying its spirit through a small army of impassioned, tradition-minded, soulful characters, one of whom—referred to simply as “The Eternal Old Man”—spans the entire length of the action as the countryside undergoes numerous changes (and is, at the end, threatened by Soviet “progress”). Mixing passages of almost dreamlike lyricism with others of raucous gruffness, Siberiade is a challenging film, but also one that's strangely mesmerizing. Unfortunately, the transfer is not ideally crisp, and there are no extras to provide historical or critical context for viewers (a serious drawback). Still, this important film is recommended, overall. (F. Swietek)