UNDER ELECTRIC CLOUDS

Russia, 2015, 130 minutes, Colour.
Directed by Alexey German Jr.

This is a film designed for Russian audience or audiences who are aware of Russian history, politics, economics, industry as well as the traditions. It has social implications, ethnographic situations and implications, personal stories.

The film also has a singular visual style, is divided into seven chapters with headings, and indications of interconnections between the stories. The setting is 2017, the film released in 2015 at the time of the presidency of Vladimir Putin and the Russian experience, unrest and war, especially in Ukraine, in the context of international sanctions.

The camera work is distinctive, many tracking shots, close-ups, Russian editing and pace. There is also voice-over, explaining the background of the building, the links with particular characters, the building and its being unfinished servings a symbol. There are sequences in chapters with architects, vying about the design, wondering the parking lot, others asking questions about a cupola or a spire. A range of different perspectives.

The film opens with a foreign wanderer, in the cold, difficulties of language, looking for work, and issues of life and death. It is followed by a chapter about the heirs when the owner of the building dies, the son preferring to be with his friends, the daughter wanting to honour her father, getting ideas, inspecting – and the chapter ending with her standing on her hands, upside down on the top of the building.

There is also a story about a real estate agent and his memories, difficult times in 2011, problems.

Whether there is a resolution is a question, visionary, philosophical or whether the whole film has been an exploration, some abstract considerations. To that extent, this is a cleverly made and artistic film for Russians and those familiar with the Russian experience, difficult or even alienating for non-Russians.