CHICAGO -- One screenwriter on this picture spent 10 years in a Lubianka-like prison, undeniably accounting for the hellish realism and insider revelations of ''Lost in Siberia, '' about the horrors of Stalin's prison system.
Set during the early days of the Cold War, this engrossing and entertaining film is the story of Andrei Miller (Anthony Andrews), a British archaeologist who is snagged away from his Middle Eastern dig by the KGB and incarcerated as a ''Western spy.''
It's a gut-turning story of cold sadism and bureaucratic brutality. (The KGB soon learns they have the wrong man, but petty officials refuse to free him.) And it's a story that conveys with a David Lean-ish sweep the natural horrors of Siberia. The grueling day-by-day hazards and indignities are overwhelming throughout.
Structured not as a documentary or even as an expose, ''Lost in Siberia, '' screened here at the Chicago International Film Festival, is laid out in what Hollywood executives would characterize as a ''love story in an extreme environment.'' Somewhat surprisingly, this does not detract from the production's power as a social document but rather layers it with a personalized dimension, making it more accessible.
Such a narrative framework actually facilitates our understanding of the icy, Kafka-like hell of a Siberian prison, and director Alexander Mitta's visual compositions further imbue the monstrous experience of political imprisonment from a human perspective. Credit to Mitta and cinematographer Vladimir Shevtsik for their evocative framings which convey the daunting grandeur of the countryside as well as the stirring vigor of the human spirit.
Andrews is well-cast in the role of the innocent archaeologist: his performance is full of survival mettle and crackling fortitude. Although her role seems straight from the big Hollywood scope of ''Dr. Zhivago, '' Yelena Mayorova as the beautiful prison physician, Dr. Anna, steels her performance to a sharp and empathetic edge, while Ira Mikhalyova, as a local urchin, is similarly credible as a spirited survivor.
All technical contributions are tempered to perfection: particularly gripping is composer Leonid Desyatnikov's swirling, minor-keyed sounds.
LOST IN SIBERIA
Spectator International Film
Producers Gagik Gasparyan, Alexander Mood
Director Alexander Mitta
Screenwriters Alexander Mitta, Valery Fried, Yuri Korotkov, James Brabazon
Director of photography Vladimir Shevtsik
Costume designer T. Lichmanova
Production designers Valerey Yurkevitch, Vitali Klimenkov
Color/Stereo
Cast:
Andrei Miller Anthony Andrews
Doctor Anna Yelena Mayorova
Lilka Ira Mikhalyova
Capt. Malkovich Vladimir Ilyin
Running time -- 107 minutes
No MPAA rating
(c) The Hollywood Reporter...
Set during the early days of the Cold War, this engrossing and entertaining film is the story of Andrei Miller (Anthony Andrews), a British archaeologist who is snagged away from his Middle Eastern dig by the KGB and incarcerated as a ''Western spy.''
It's a gut-turning story of cold sadism and bureaucratic brutality. (The KGB soon learns they have the wrong man, but petty officials refuse to free him.) And it's a story that conveys with a David Lean-ish sweep the natural horrors of Siberia. The grueling day-by-day hazards and indignities are overwhelming throughout.
Structured not as a documentary or even as an expose, ''Lost in Siberia, '' screened here at the Chicago International Film Festival, is laid out in what Hollywood executives would characterize as a ''love story in an extreme environment.'' Somewhat surprisingly, this does not detract from the production's power as a social document but rather layers it with a personalized dimension, making it more accessible.
Such a narrative framework actually facilitates our understanding of the icy, Kafka-like hell of a Siberian prison, and director Alexander Mitta's visual compositions further imbue the monstrous experience of political imprisonment from a human perspective. Credit to Mitta and cinematographer Vladimir Shevtsik for their evocative framings which convey the daunting grandeur of the countryside as well as the stirring vigor of the human spirit.
Andrews is well-cast in the role of the innocent archaeologist: his performance is full of survival mettle and crackling fortitude. Although her role seems straight from the big Hollywood scope of ''Dr. Zhivago, '' Yelena Mayorova as the beautiful prison physician, Dr. Anna, steels her performance to a sharp and empathetic edge, while Ira Mikhalyova, as a local urchin, is similarly credible as a spirited survivor.
All technical contributions are tempered to perfection: particularly gripping is composer Leonid Desyatnikov's swirling, minor-keyed sounds.
LOST IN SIBERIA
Spectator International Film
Producers Gagik Gasparyan, Alexander Mood
Director Alexander Mitta
Screenwriters Alexander Mitta, Valery Fried, Yuri Korotkov, James Brabazon
Director of photography Vladimir Shevtsik
Costume designer T. Lichmanova
Production designers Valerey Yurkevitch, Vitali Klimenkov
Color/Stereo
Cast:
Andrei Miller Anthony Andrews
Doctor Anna Yelena Mayorova
Lilka Ira Mikhalyova
Capt. Malkovich Vladimir Ilyin
Running time -- 107 minutes
No MPAA rating
(c) The Hollywood Reporter...
- 10/17/1991
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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