Lost in Siberia
Time Out says
This co-production describes the horrors of Stalin's camps and Arctic gulags in the '40s from the perspective of a British archaeologist falsely arrested for spying. Andrei Miller, a Brit of Russian grandparentage, is pulled off his dig and cattle-trucked to Siberia, where an escape attempt adds 25 years to his sentence. Living down in life's base camp, his identity stripped to bare bone, he finds only love and friendship can save the spirit. This is basically a journey-through-hell movie, with scenes of Doré-like torment, dehumanising injustice, hunger, privation and terror. Most harrowing is the depiction of violence among prisoners. Here the film's style veers closer at times to the visceral expressionism of Alan Parker's Midnight Express than, say, to that of Caspar Wrede's One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich; what holds it back is the acrid whiff of authenticity. Despite the excesses, it's an impressive effort, with a strong, committed performance from Andrews as Miller.
Details
Release details
Duration:
108 mins
Cast and crew
Director:
Alexander Mitta
Screenwriter:
Alexander Mitta, Valery Fried, Yuri Korotkov, James Brabazon
Cast:
Anthony Andrews
Yelena Mayorova
Vladimir Ilyin
Ira Mikhalyova
Yevgeni Mironov
Alexei Zharkov
Hark Bohm
Nicolas Chagrin
Elena Secota
Yelena Mayorova
Vladimir Ilyin
Ira Mikhalyova
Yevgeni Mironov
Alexei Zharkov
Hark Bohm
Nicolas Chagrin
Elena Secota