Ostrov (The Island), NTSC version with English subtitles (2006)

Ostrov (The Island), NTSC version with English subtitles (2006) | Pyotr Mamonov, Viktoriya Isakova | Great film

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Ostrov (The Island...

	Ostrov (The Island), NTSC version with English subtitles (2006) Pyotr Mamonov, Viktoriya Isakova VOX - Video, 2006 average customer review:based on 18 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

ENGLISH subtitled DVD !!! Import, NTSC (USA & Canada), ALL region, Anamorphic Widescreen. AUDIO OPTIONS: DD 2.0 Stereo, DD 5.1 & DTS RUSSIAN. Original Russian artwork.............................................................. SYNOPSIS: Winner of 5 Nika Awards (Russian Oscars) including Best Film. Somewhere in Northern Russia in a small Russian Orthodox monastery lives a very unusual man. His fellow-monks are confused by his bizarre conduct. Those who visit the island believe that the man has the power to heal, exorcise demons and foretell the future. However, he considers himself unworthy because of a sin he committed in his youth. The film is a parable, combining the realities of Russian everyday life with monastic ritual and routine.

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Let it change your life

I was prepared to be very impressed. I'd read several ecstatic reviews on-line, I'd heard great things from my friends at church about this film. When our parish priest decided to show the film in the church hall after Sat. eve. vespers, I was looking forward to a fine film. A fine film is quite an understatement. Ostrov (The Island) is incredible.
A number of other reviewers here have given excellent descriptions of the plot, theme and setting of Ostrov. I can only add this advice, please watch this film more than once. The depth of meaning, the layers of understanding to be had by watching, and watching again, all that is conveyed in this film is truly extraordinary.

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Great film

Great film very spiritual and enlightning about Orthodox monks and a true spiritual journey. A human and touching story that will inspire and add to your faith.

"The Island" is brilliant!

This movie is VERY Russian and VERY Eastern Orthodox. It tells the tale of a man who became a "fool for Christ." He lives in an Eastern Orthodox monastery and vexes both parishioners and fellow monks with his "crazy" spiritual advice and actions. As you watch the movie, though, you'll realize he is not so crazy after all. This film gives one a good feel for Orthodox monasticism (in this context), the importance of prayer, and how the monks are "real people like us" with their own troubles, demons and sins that can be overcome by God's mercy and love. The photography and staging are fantastic and the situations are very human, real and touching. I highly recommend this movie!

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Piety As Its Most Realistic

Besides breathtaking cinematography and an emanating cold that you can really feel, the real draw of Russian film `The Island' is its realistic portraiture of a human saint. Hollywood, who has a tendency to produce sanitized icons of saintly figures, could take note of how realistic Pyotr Mamonov's portrayal is of Fr. Anatoly's life as a merry prankster who possesses special heavenly gifts. The drama could have been so mundane as not to be special if it weren't for a secret in this monk's life during World War II that makes him vulnerable and truly appreciate the mercy he dispenses to others.

Endearing for the human way he demonstrates impatience for pilgrims who arrive at his door and an impetuous desire to play pranks even during holy mass, this saint is as believable for his antics which is God's seeming antidote to the grimness presented in his fellow Russians' lives. Sometimes the sum of the parts could have gelled better, but it remains heartfelt and endearing.

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Ostrov -- A Slice of The Orthodox Religion in Post WW II Russia

I learned about this film from a local Greek Orthodox monk, who is also a film fan.
The plot has been overused -- a man makes a critical error in judgement, during war time, which supposedly causes another to lose his life. The man, the next time we see him, is disheveled and has less than pristine hygiene habits. He also is an annoying, half crazed, odd kind of monk among other monks in a less than beautiful monastery. Obviously, a poor monastery.
We learn that the monk is also reputedly someone others consider a "healer" and they (Orthodox believers even in then post-WW II Russia. It's unclear or perhaps I missed any reference to the regime in power. It would seem to be a relatively lose period, certainly nothing within the realm of Stalinist Russia, since religion and religionists were persecuted by that mad man.
The monk does seemingly perform some miraculous healing experiences for those who sought him out; the monastery's abbot moves in with the monk in a decision which suggests he has something to learn from this man, even though he, too, sometimes wonders about the man's sanity. There is an incident where the monk causes the abbot some true pain, at least emotionally. In the end, the miracle happens for this man who thought, erroneously, that he'd committed a heinous crime. Another "outcome" appears for which the monk would have never thought possible.
The film works on an emotional level, or did, for me, because it becomes painful, in a way, to watch this man's behavior. He is clearly filled with false pride, that he cannot forgive himself even though religiously, there is evidence that of course, God would have forgiven him. He is released, once he learns the truth, and that is poignant and beautiful. The man and the monastery would seem to disappear in mist and fog afterwards. The milieu of the monastery within the Soviet system is bleak, dark, held together by baling wire in a way. It appears to be dismal in a way most Americans, I think, have never experienced.
I liked the film. Even though the plot wasn't original, nor was the spin of the character, I was grateful for the look into the Orthodox community. The same director directed the film "The Monastery," which I have yet to watch. "Before The Rain" also gave some glimpses into an Orthodox Church and community, I beleive, in post-Tito Yugoslavia. I'd recommend that film, also if a person wanted to learn more about that country and it's religion.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4

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