85
Metascore
13 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100The New York TimesManohla DargisThe New York TimesManohla DargisA film of startling originality and beauty -- feels like a communiqué from another time, another place, anywhere but here.
- 100San Francisco ChronicleWalter AddiegoSan Francisco ChronicleWalter AddiegoIn the hands of visionary filmmaker Alexander Sokurov, this simple material makes for a haunting drama about war, generational relationships and the human condition.
- 90VarietyVarietyThough 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.
- 88TV Guide MagazineKen FoxTV Guide MagazineKen FoxNever 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.
- 88Boston GlobeWesley MorrisBoston GlobeWesley MorrisAlexandra is a pleasure to watch, but it's also one of those lovely, unclassifiable movies that flourishes better with repeated or prolonged exposures.
- 80Village VoiceJ. HobermanVillage VoiceJ. HobermanSpare 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.
- 80Los Angeles TimesKevin ThomasLos Angeles TimesKevin ThomasThe 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.
- 75Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaPhiladelphia InquirerSteven ReaAlexandra 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.
- 70Washington PostMichael O'SullivanWashington PostMichael O'SullivanThe 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.
- 67The A.V. ClubNoel MurrayThe A.V. ClubNoel MurrayThe contrast of a warm maternal figure and a remote army outpost is undeniably affecting. But when Vishnevskaya opens her mouth, she spoils the mood.