最后的列车

"Aleksei Gherman junior’s film The Last Train premiered in Moscow in mid December during the film festival Stalker, which also awarded it the prize for the best film. However, its first screening had already taken place in the ‘controcorrente’ competition of the Venice Film Festival in September. The film, dealing with theme of war and shot in black and white, remained unnoticed by the press in the context of the Venice Film Festival (preoccupied almost exclusively with Zviagintsev’s The Return), although it was awarded a prize. In Moscow, it made rather a different impression, especially when set in the context of films dealing with human rights issues.


　　Gherman’s film is, in a sense, a response to his father’s war film 20 Days without War. Maybe this explains the oddity of a young, clearly talented director venturing on his debut film into the trodden territories of the war film, a theme that dominated Russian cinema in general, but had also been dealt with by his father. For Gherman Junior, however, war knows neither winners nor losers: instead of exploring the history of WWII, Gherman looks at the fate of two men who have failed to make the right choice (or a choice) at the right time. Therefore, they are now the victims of circumstances, of politics, of regimes – which they have or have not elected. Gherman’s concern is with people in particular circumstances, which are not their choice, and how they cope with these unwanted situations.

黑白影像里的寒冷透骨，只有绝望的气息弥漫，大家都会死在这里的念头，身心早已疲惫不堪。普鲁士军队没有撤退，只有积极的防御，这不是自豪，只是一种讽刺或者嘲笑。互相碰面没有手软，这场战争根本没有赢家，只是输的慢一点而已。树木还是树木，沼泽还是沼泽，唯有自己变成一堆白骨，长眠于此，成为历史，被遗忘～

开篇前二十分钟白描式的广角镜头粗粝朴实，冷观士气低落的德军将士在俄罗斯东部战线溃败后的失魂落魄和疲态尽显。暴风雪肆虐横行弥漫全片，卷入战争的各方都在咳嗽中撕心裂肺，寸步难行中挣扎，难逃被吞噬。总体注重细节，格调清晰，功力不俗。

畢竟，他們不是士兵。他們只能目睹何時能了的冤冤相報。想不到小日爾曼的處女作有點索科洛夫的味道。很巧，日爾曼父子的處女作雖然在不同時代創作，但是卻發生在相同的時空，互相交織，並行不悖。