His focus whether be on the visage of a man or neverending natural landscapes, if we are lauding his "wide angle frames", it certainly is not because of his masterful technical competence or his extraordinary compositions. On the contrary, we know well that Alexander Sokurov, one of the most important contemporary Russian directors, epitomising his film Russian Ark, makes use of technology only in order to make it serve his endeavour, to force the limits of cinema. An innovative filmmaker, but it's obvious that he takes his power from the traditional, and his progressionist perspective originates from his search for his roots. With his feature and documentary films, he is a filmmaker who can expose the human spirit onto the screen for more than twenty years. Be it a social phenomena or the ordinary person, his constant trials of different styles and themes with various subjects and visitors are sweet surprises for us each time. Seeing the same auteur attitude created "disciples" around his name. In his films where he interprets historical personalities such as Hitler, Lenin, or the Japanese Emperor Hirohito, it is definitely not the vain truth that hits our soul, but it is existence. As a typical auteur, we could summarise his obsession primarily as the human being and his destiny, the mystery in his poeticalness is hidden inside the meaning cached beyond the visible in his meditative frames. Like the mirror of the human state of mind. His profound questions on the human existence bring on divine dilemmas. In this context, being categorised a "spiritual" filmmaker as the successor of the legendary Tarkovsky with his form and themes is limiting in it that this muddles the difference between them. When have ever seen a Sokurov film where tormented souls end in peace? In his latest film Alexandra, Sokurov reminds us that war is a "men's game", he tells us about the futile destructiveness of this game without even firing a bullet, by creating a surrealistic atmosphere reflected in a mirror as agonisingly real. What he has achieved in cinema is the assurance of what he will succeed; indeed, he is only 56 years old.
- Esin Küçüktepepınar