Plot: 2 people on a soviet ship that carries coal are attacked by a Nazi fighter ship. The Nazi captain forces Anatoli, the less brave between the two men, to kill his captain and then leave him to die from the explosives they have placed there. Anatoli survives somehow and is saved by some Orthodox Monks. Some decades later Anatoli, the weirdest amongst the other monks, is pursued by strong guilt but also seems to have gained the ability to heal people that come in the monastery or predict the future.
You'll love Ostrov if: You are a very faithful Christian or at least a very humble and spiritual person. Humility in my view that's the lesson of the movie. Anatoli is tortured by his own sins, constantly in tears and full of inner pain, doesn't care about "the right procedures" and other earthly and useless stuff like his fellow monks, sees himself as the lowest of the low and spends most of his time praying to God and asking for forgiveness. The gifts of Anatoli aren't exaggerated you won't see God speaking to him, or light sparks coming from his hand. Anatoli is a humble man, a great lesson in Monastism. Apart from that the movie looks wonderful. Ostrov combines great cinematography, with nice camera work and beautiful but bleak soviet landscapes that make you feel the isolation and the overall depression of the main character.
You'll hate Ostrov if: You are not spiritual at all, or if you hate slow paced movies with almost no plot. I'm not a believer, (not anymore at least), but I still like the concept of humility that the Christian Orthodox faith is –supposed to be- based upon. However the way this movie portrays that, is quite wrong in my opinion. You'll see Anatoli carrying his coal in his wheelbarrow for 10 minutes, then a five minute pause for tearful prayers, then more coal, more prayers, more coal and so on. In all respect to religious people I am among these people whose opinion about prayers is "Doing nothing and still thing you're helping". OK, we get it! Anatoli is sorry for the murder of his friend, his guilt and repentance is genuine and so on and so forth but other than that what is the movie all about? Sorry but it takes more than constant, (although genuinely straight from the heart), prayers to make me like a movie about religious morals. And for those people that right now think stuff like, "Damn Atheist!!!", I disagree. I loved Jesus Of Nazareth when I was a Christian and I love it even to this day that I'm not anymore
FINAL VERDICT: Doesn't Do The Trick (3/10)
[+] Humility in Monastism 101. Great cinematography with wonderful Russian landscapes.
[-] More prayers than an actual plot. Slow paced and badly directed.
Also Check: Jesus Of Nazareth (1977) – The Last Temptation Of Christ (1988) - The Passion Of The Christ (2004)
P.S.: My purpose in all my IMDb Reviews is not to say "I like\don't like this movie" but to help you decide whether YOU will like it or not since everything is all about taste and expectations IMO...
You'll love Ostrov if: You are a very faithful Christian or at least a very humble and spiritual person. Humility in my view that's the lesson of the movie. Anatoli is tortured by his own sins, constantly in tears and full of inner pain, doesn't care about "the right procedures" and other earthly and useless stuff like his fellow monks, sees himself as the lowest of the low and spends most of his time praying to God and asking for forgiveness. The gifts of Anatoli aren't exaggerated you won't see God speaking to him, or light sparks coming from his hand. Anatoli is a humble man, a great lesson in Monastism. Apart from that the movie looks wonderful. Ostrov combines great cinematography, with nice camera work and beautiful but bleak soviet landscapes that make you feel the isolation and the overall depression of the main character.
You'll hate Ostrov if: You are not spiritual at all, or if you hate slow paced movies with almost no plot. I'm not a believer, (not anymore at least), but I still like the concept of humility that the Christian Orthodox faith is –supposed to be- based upon. However the way this movie portrays that, is quite wrong in my opinion. You'll see Anatoli carrying his coal in his wheelbarrow for 10 minutes, then a five minute pause for tearful prayers, then more coal, more prayers, more coal and so on. In all respect to religious people I am among these people whose opinion about prayers is "Doing nothing and still thing you're helping". OK, we get it! Anatoli is sorry for the murder of his friend, his guilt and repentance is genuine and so on and so forth but other than that what is the movie all about? Sorry but it takes more than constant, (although genuinely straight from the heart), prayers to make me like a movie about religious morals. And for those people that right now think stuff like, "Damn Atheist!!!", I disagree. I loved Jesus Of Nazareth when I was a Christian and I love it even to this day that I'm not anymore
FINAL VERDICT: Doesn't Do The Trick (3/10)
[+] Humility in Monastism 101. Great cinematography with wonderful Russian landscapes.
[-] More prayers than an actual plot. Slow paced and badly directed.
Also Check: Jesus Of Nazareth (1977) – The Last Temptation Of Christ (1988) - The Passion Of The Christ (2004)
P.S.: My purpose in all my IMDb Reviews is not to say "I like\don't like this movie" but to help you decide whether YOU will like it or not since everything is all about taste and expectations IMO...