Siberia and Him (2019)
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In remote Siberia, two men begin a clandestine and erotically charged affair as far removed from the prying eyes of a dictatorial society as can be. Not only would this relationship subject them to imprisonment or worse within the world of the film, but the actors, director and producers would also all be subject to the same penalties in their current day Russia where this was shot. All of this causes this stunning, haunting debut film to resonate long after the end credits roll.
Selected and supported by the IFP Filmmaker Lab and destined to evoke both the breathtaking landscapes of BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN and the tragedy of a Dostoevsky novel, Viatcheslav Kopturevskiy’s auspicious debut drama is an elliptical and much-needed examination of internalized homophobia, repression, and identity in a remote Siberian town.
19 May 2020 | by jromanbaker – imdb
In the middle of this amazing film there is a cry from a man who has gone beyond his limits of endurance. I watched this the day we, the world should think of homophobia and I wept watching what was happening on the screen. Somewhere in Siberia in that beautiful, terrifyingly alone landscape two men are travelling. They are lovers and what happens to both of them should be shown everywhere; in schools, in cinemas. The only other review mentions ‘ Brokeback Mountain ‘. America has places of retreat from homophobia, but in Russia ? The cry of why is because of Russia and all homophobic countries where it is normal to destroy the human heart. The acting is beyond praise. It just is and there are many moments in the film where it becomes so painful to watch I questioned where they got the resources to play their parts. It is that real that they surpass acting itself. I could call it a masterpiece, a great film. Those are clichés I will not use. I could say that it reminded me of the best of Russian cinema and evoke Tarkovsky and Sokurov. It is on its own and it is clear and painful, and so full of the right to love that it makes me want to scream against an unjust world. Especially for those who live in their own Siberia and can find no way out.