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Alexandra
The Cinema Guild

Alexandra reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 85 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
6.8 out of 10
based on 13 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 11 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

MPAA RATING: Not Rated

Starring Galina Vishnevskaya, Vasily Shevtsov, and Raisa Gichaeva

In a desolate, sun-scorched corner of the world, an elderly woman has come to see her beloved grandson, a young officer stationed at a remote military outpost. With the enemy just beyond the compound, she wanders the barracks, observing the routine of military life, before making a sudden trip to the outlying countryside. (The Cinema Guild)


GENRE(S): Drama  
WRITTEN BY: Aleksandr Sokurov  
DIRECTED BY: Aleksandr Sokurov  
RELEASE DATE: Theatrical: March 26, 2008 
RUNNING TIME: 95 minutes, Color 
ORIGIN: Russia / France 
LANGUAGE(S): Russian / Chechen 

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100
The New York Times Manohla Dargis
A film of startling originality and beauty -- feels like a communiqué from another time, another place, anywhere but here.
Read Full Review
100
San Francisco Chronicle Walter Addiego
In the hands of visionary filmmaker Alexander Sokurov, this simple material makes for a haunting drama about war, generational relationships and the human condition.
Read Full Review
100
Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips
It's unlike any other war film, in any language.
Read Full Review
90
Variety Jay Weissberg
Though he's sure to deny it, Alexandra is Alexander Sokurov's most directly political work for years. Featuring a performance of monumental depth by opera legend Galina Vishnevskaya, pic presents war for what it is: brutal, crushing, and ugly, and yet Sokurov doesn't lens any battles.
Read Full Review
88
TV Guide Ken Fox
Never the most optimistic of poets, Sokurov does suggest the possibility of dialogue on the individual level, and the hope that by asking difficult questions of one another, these mortal enemies can find answers and reach an understanding everyone can live with.
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88
Boston Globe Wesley Morris
Alexandra is a pleasure to watch, but it's also one of those lovely, unclassifiable movies that flourishes better with repeated or prolonged exposures.
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88
Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
The point is that for the soldiers, it's a dead zone, life on hold, a cheerless existence. And this plain-spoken old woman reminds them of a lifetime they are missing.
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80
Chicago Reader J.R. Jones
On its deepest level it considers not a particular war but the complex feelings between mothers and the young men they send out into the world to kill or be killed.
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80
Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas
The luminous humanity that characterizes the films of Alexander Sokurov is in full force in Alexandra. On the surface, it is a work of the utmost simplicity but is charged with the eternal complexities and contradictions of both love and war.
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80
Village Voice J. Hoberman
Spare yet tactile, a mysterious mixture of lightness and gravity, Alexander Sokurov's Alexandra is founded on contradiction. Musing on war in general and the Russian occupation of Chechnya in particular, this is a movie in which combat is never shown.
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75
Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea
Alexandra never depicts the soldiers in combat, but Sokurov nonetheless shows how war can break down the social structure, break down family, break the human soul.
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70
Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan
The frequent, mundane talks -- which Alexandra engages in with her grandson, Malika and the base camp's enlisted men -- are not so much about politics as they are about people.
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67
The Onion (A.V. Club) Noel Murray
The contrast of a warm maternal figure and a remote army outpost is undeniably affecting. But when Vishnevskaya opens her mouth, she spoils the mood.
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What Our Users Said

Vote Now!The average user rating for this movie is 6.8 (out of 10) based on 11 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

M Day gave it a2:
Movie was rubbish. long and arduous, terrible acting and interaction between characters. didnt make much sense. cinematography and score good but timing is way off. avoid at all costs.

L Deeds gave it a10:
Stunning and powerful.

lindsay D. gave it a10:
Beautiful and intense; a masterpiece.

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