Director: Sergei Loznitsa
Writers: Vasili Bykov (novel), Sergei Loznitsa (adaptation)
Stars: Vladimir Svirskiy, Vladislav Abashin, Sergei Kolesov
Genres: Drama | History | War
In the Fog depicts the decisions that people are forced to make during times of conflict where they are no longer masters of their own fate, but victims of circumstances beyond their control.
Suchenya, the main protagonist, is confronted with choices that no one will ever want to make but, along with other characters in the film, is forced to make them. The story is not so much the consequences of those decisions that determine the characters' fate but the unexpected events that unfold as a result of those decisions.
This is an slow moving but thoughtful film about impossible choices some of us are forced to make that profoundly shape our futures.
The scene where Suchenya's interrogator waves to him would have to be one of the cruelest waves ever seen in a movie.
Loznitsa knows that war exists and won't go away; rather than indulging in patriotic or pacifistic platitudes, he tries to show what it might do to our souls. And, in this writer's opinion, he succeeds.
Director Sergei Loznitsa often employs dreamy, intricately choreographed long-takes reminiscent of Russian filmmakers Andrei Tarkovsky, Aleksei Guerman, and Aleksandr Sokurov.
Three men enter the forest; two to execute the third. They are attacked and have to depend on each other as they move slowly and inexorably through the fog, with occasional, ominous sounds of battle at some unknown proximity. We gradually learn why the men set out toward their initial goal and how they were led to the choice.
Despite moving at a slow pace, the story unravels with great intensity. The beautiful cinematography also adds much artistry and lyricism to the film's dark and depressing mood. The ponderous nature of the film sets itself apart from most films about war, and the lead Vladimir Svirskiy delivered such a poised but emotionally
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