Inspired by an 1892 short story by Anton Chekhov about a doctor in a mental institution who becomes a patient himself, filmmakers Karen Shakhnazarov and Aleksandr Gornovsky's Ward No. 6 updates the narrative to contemporary Russia, but retains the original's philosophical foundation and trenchant tone. Filmed at an actual asylum—with some residents employed as background extras—the film is structured as a quasi-documentary in which the physician's friends and colleagues relate his tale in interview segments, interwoven with flashback sequences (the tactic doesn't quite mesh with what we're shown, because although some of the scenes were purportedly shot on an acquaintance's video camera, others could not have been captured that way). The filmmakers successfully capture the essence of Chekhov's depiction of a man already depressed over society's imperfections who develops an ever darker view of the futility of human life as a result of his conversations with a brilliant but troubled patient. And the film also underscores how an entrenched bureaucracy can stifle those with views different from its own. While it's a pity that heavy-set Vladimir Ilin delivers such a stolid, unvaried performance as the morose Dr. Ragin, this is recommended, overall. (F. Swietek)
Ward No. 6
Kino, 83 min., in Russian w/English subtitles, not rated, DVD: $29.95, May 3 Volume 26, Issue 3
Ward No. 6
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