Siberiade

Reviewer: James van Maanen
Rating (out of 5): ***

Not to be taken lightly (or, certainly, quickly) Andrei Konchalovsky's (with Valentin Ezhow as co-writer) Siberiade runs more than 4-1/2 hours on two discs. That the DVD quality of this "special edition" is only so-so (full-screen, rather than wide-; fading colors; and a general lack of the kind of crispness DVD buffs have come to expect from our "classics") does not help one's viewing pleasure. Still, until someone undertakes to bring out the real-thing-done-right, we shall have to settle. As someone who had never seen Siberiade in any form, I am grateful. If you've not seen it, either, I'd suggest a rent.

Tracking the denizens of a small Siberian village from around 1900 thru the 1970s (the film was made in '79), it does not linger as long as you might like on some of the early characters, who, by film's end, seem by far the most interesting, due perhaps to the strangeness and foreboding of the time (early uprisings against the Czarist state). There is a certain amount of character confusion early on, as well. If you find yourself asking, "Now, is that Alexsey or Phil?", you'll eventually figure it out. Konchalovsky (probably best known in the country for Maria's Lovers, Runaway Train, Duet for One, Shy People) has never been among my favorite directors ("House of Fools," or Tango & Cash, anyone?), but here he has risen to the task of managing a pretty fair epic melodrama, interspersed with speeded-up, newsreel-like footage.

There are some great moments and some very fine scenes along the way, the best of which takes place at the beginning of disc 2, during the ravages of WWII. But there are also "longeurs," as certain men folk have scads of trouble committing to certain women folk, much vodka is consumed, and we wait (and wait) for the discovery of oil in Siberia. And yet the movie holds us, due to fine performances, a good story and the pervading sense of family and place. That the writers/director opt for a climactic "imagined" reunion scene (that's been done by everyone from Fellini to Craig Lucas) does not detract from its ability to move us once again. Anyone with Russian genealogy or a love of that country's history will immediately upgrade my rating by a point or two; for film buffs--whatever their final assessment--the movie's a must.