Film: The Island
Release date: 21st June 2010
Certificate: 15
Running time: 112 mins
Director: Pavel Lounguine
Starring: Pyotr Manonov, Viktor Sukhorukov, Dmitry Dyuzhev
Genre: Drama
Studio: Artificial Eye
Format: DVD
Country: Russia
Not to be confused with the terrible Ewan McGregor/Scarlett Johansson action film released around the same time, The Island comes to our shores with a host of awards from its native Russia, who, at their annual Golden Eagle Awards proclaimed it to be the best Russian film of 2006. A deeply religious film about the nature of faith, forgiveness and one man’s ability for miracles, it’s been praised by the Russian Orthodox Church leader Alexis II as being a wonderful love letter to the church.
The film opens during World War II, where sailor Anatoly and his captain, Tikhon, are apprehended aboard their ship by Nazi Germans. The leading Nazi officer offers the chance for Anatoly to live if he shoots and kills his captain. Begging for his life and trembling with fear, Anatoly reluctantly carries out the act, shooting his captain who falls overboard and into the sea. Moments later the Nazis blow up the ship with Anatoly still on board. The following morning Anatoly is discovered washed up on the shore by a group of Russian Orthodox monks who take him to their island monastery.
Thirty years pass and Anatoly is still living within the monastery, riddled with guilt over the events of the war, often praying in seclusion for forgiveness. With a seemingly miraculous gift (he’s got a knack for healing the sick and predicting the future), local towns people flock to Anatoly for cures or guidance, much to the confusion of the other monks.
A man arrives at the monastery with his possessed daughter. Anatoly performs a form of exorcism on the girl and rescues her soul. The girl’s father, it turns out, is his former captain, alive and well and not dead as Anatoly assumed. Will he be forgiven or will his former captain bear a grudge?
The film’s best moment comes early during the Nazi standoff aboard the ship. Tense and expertly acted, and reminiscent of Great War scenes before it, the scene leads to hopes that the rest of the film will follow in similar fashion, but that isn’t the kind of film The Island strives to be - it has far bigger ideas to contend with.
Director Pavel Lungin has created a contemplative fable within a very isolated atmosphere. He is competent enough behind the camera; it’s what’s in front of it that’s questionable. Set in a misty, snowy, windy island in remote Russia, it’s a film that certainly won’t win any tourism awards. You’ll find yourself often yearning for the sun to come out, and perhaps this is the kind of metaphor Lungin is trying to convey, as Anatoly fights with his inner conscience.
The film unwraps slowly, maybe too slowly, as Anatoly is revealed gently over the course of the two hours. Played remarkably well by ex rock star turned actor Pyotr Mamonov (a real-life orthodox Christian), he is onscreen for almost the entire film, creating a complex character who, despite falling into self-pity, at times, remains on the right side of likeable. He’s certainly a man of contradictions, prankster one minute, fervent worshipper the next, whose devotion is never in doubt. Bearded and gaunt, and always looking in need of a bath, he cuts a pained figure, looking much older than the actor’s 59 years.
Each of the monastery’s monks represents a sin - the human faults and material longings that hinder spiritual redemption - and Anatoly, desperate for forgiveness, challenges them all in his own complex and unique way. He feels forgiven by God, but seems to be struggling to forgive himself, thereby representing the challenge to find his inner peace, something many of us can possibly relate to.
The music complements the film nicely with moving choral singing, which fits perfectly during Anatoly’s spiritual examinations and thoughtful insights.
The Island is perhaps best watched when we are at our worst, or seeking repentance from our own sins. It deals with forgiveness and one man’s quest to find his own, but the film’s lack of colour and lightness of touch will presumably turn off a large portion of the audience. It’s a difficult film to sit through, purely because it’s extremely bleak and mildly depressing in its execution. Those that stay the course, much like Anatoly himself, may feel like taking a long rest afterwards.
The Island wants to be thought provoking, with its religious themes and complex characterisations, but whilst it should be moving, the unrelentingly cold makes it a dreary and tiresome watch. GY
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