What’s engaging about the 2010 documentary, My Perestroika, and that was largely absent from my own visit to Russia isn’t so much the views of Moscow but the captured moments of real Russians, those not selling anything to tourists or trying to be pleasing in the hope of gaining a tip. The film follows a…
Category: Films
Roads through Russia
The story in the film Roads to Koktebel, that of a widower trekking to the Black Sea with his young son in the hope of starting a new life, seems emblematic of the Russian experience. The characters are resolute, obdurate. Their terrain is vast and harsh, but they’ve found a way to adapt, to make…
Germany Year Zero
I wasn’t sure what to think when I happened upon a memorial to victims of the war at St. Nikolai church in Hamburg, Germany. What remains of the church is basically a bell tower and a basement, some walls, now open-air, and art. What I hadn’t counted upon, after gaining admission, was the mention of…