Aleksey GERMAN jr. Алексей ГЕРМАН мл. Alekseï GUERMAN jr.   Russia, 2008, 118 mn  Colour, fiction

The Paper Soldier ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ Бумажный солдат    Le Soldat de papier  Bumazhnyy soldat

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Plot synopsis

A human tragedy of the main character – Daniil Pokrovsky – the doctor who was part of the first team of the Soviet cosmonauts, is developing within the preparation of the flight of the first man into the space. He happened to be involved in the conflict between the two women who loved him, as well as between the spirituals wholeness and scientific duties. The choice he makes can be crucial causing the loss of happiness, professional respect or even of his own life..

 

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Commentaries and bibliography

Aleksei German Jr : The Paper Soldier (Bumazhnyi soldat 2008), Julian GRAFFY, kinokultura.com, 2009

 

“Paper Soldier” directed by Alexey German is an enigmatic Russian film set in the 1960s and follows a doctor his wife and his girlfriend and their involvement with a group of cosmonauts. We follow them over a five week countdown to the launch of the first manned space rocket. This is Russia eight years after the death of Stalin and the young Russians see their adventure as proving the might and importance of the Soviet Union. Political reality is mixed with philosophy and personal angst as the main character Danya, doctor deals with the history he is helping create and his memories of his past family history and a father who died in a camp because of his ideas.
The barren wasteland of the settings is as eerie and depressing as a lunar landscape, shrouded in mist and populated by eccentric and depressing individuals.
At one point a camp is being demolished but an elderly woman pleads to be allowed to stay as it is the only home she has known. Danya also encounters a strange individual who is trying to sell a huge portrait of Stalin whcih is surrounded by light like a religious icon.
The film owes much Russian film of the 1960’s as well as the nouvelle vague and the film slips in and out of locations and hallucinations with a dreamy surrealist style.
The title refers to a little story told early on in the film about a soldier who is very brave but doesn’t realise he is made paper and so rushes into the fire and is consumed. It’s some sort of metaphor for the cosmonauts who acknowledge that their mission is most likely to fail and they will have to be content with being dead heroes.
(http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/film-festival-examining-life-104032)

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Selected in the following festivals :

- Festival de films russes Kinorama au cinéma Royal de Biarritz, Biarritz (France), 2011

- Cinémas russes à Montauban, Montauban (France), 2011

- Festival of Central and Eastern Film , Wiesbaden (Germany), 2011

- Sputnik nad Polska, Warsaw (Poland), 2011

- Seville European Film Festival : SEFF, Seville (Spain), 2011

- Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival : PÖFF, Tallinn (Estonia), 2010

- Cinéma russe à Montbéliard, Montbéliard (France), 2010

- Release in France of the film, Different cities (France), 2010-09-15

- La Rochelle International Film Festival, La Rochelle (France), 2010

- Festival "Entre Nostalghia et Euphoria", Grenoble (France), 2010

- Festival "All our German", Moscow (Russia), 2010

- Melbourne International Film Festival, Melbourne (Australia), 2009

- Sofia International Film Festival, Sofia (Bulgaria), 2009

- Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Karlovy Vary (Czech Republic), 2009

- Munich International Film Festival, Munich (Germany), 2009

- Jerusalem International Film Festival, Jerusalem (Israel), 2009

- Festival of New Russian Films, Vilnius (Lithuania), 2009

- Rotterdam International Film Festival, Rotterdam (Netherlands), 2009

- New Zealand International Film Festival, Auckland (New Zealand), 2009

- Sputnik nad Polska, Warsaw (Poland), 2009

- Monaco Charity Film Festival, Monaco (Principality of Monaco), 2009

- Golden Eagle awards, Moscow (Russia), 2009

- Ljubljana International Film Festival, Ljubljana (Slovenia), 2009

- Russian Film Festival, London (United Kingdom), 2009

- Edinburgh International Film Festival, Edinburgh (United Kingdom), 2009

- New Directors New Films, New York (USA), 2009

- Russian film symposium. University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh (USA), 2009

- Miami International Film Festival : MIFF, Miami (USA), 2009

- Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival : PÖFF, Tallinn (Estonia), 2008

- Venice International Film Festival, Venice (Italy), 2008

- Annual award of the Guild of Historians of Cinema and Film Critics, Moscow (Russia), 2008

- International Human Rights Film Festival, Moscow (Russia), 2008

- Window to Europe Film Festival, Vyborg, Vyborg (Russia), 2008

- "NIKA" Prizes, Moscow (Russia), 2008

- New Festival of Author`s Film, Belgrade (Serbia), 2008

- Stockholm International Film Festival, Stockholm (Sweden), 2008

- Kyiv International Film Festival 'Molodist', Kiev (Ukraine), 2008

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