Jan Andrews: Joseph Brodsky
With the subtitle ”in the prison of latitudes”, this detailed, autobiographical film is quite an achievement in terms of research into the complicated life of the Russian poet (born 1940), not to talk about the archive material that the director has found, and the many interesting people from St. Petersburg, who knew Brodsky, when he was in his home town before he was forced in exile in 1972. He lived in the US until his death in 1996.
The best in the film, however, is the fascinating images from St.Petersburg, this pearl of a city with so much beauty that Brodsky knew how to convey into his poetry, that is given to the spectator through recordings of his own voice, magnificent it is to listen to poems being recited by him, who in the US also read in a classical English language that Laurence Olivier would have loved!
The director has wisely chosen to let the St. Petersburg years be in the forefront with a voice-off commentary that not only gives information about the life of Brodsky but also quotes him. It is understandable as Brodsky comes alive through his words but it sometimes makes the narrative of the film far too loaded with words and blocks for the experience of the images. Which are also wonderful when the journey goes to his beloved Venice, that inspired him to write the masterpiece ”Watermark” about the city where he is buried. A quote to end this text about an important film introduction to a great poet:
”Being sent to into exile is like being put into a capsule and shot into space and the capsule is your language”
USA, 2010, 60 mins.
The director Jan Andrews: I do have DVD’S in English and Italian (eventually Russian) which can be ordered from me via my email address. $15.00 plus shipping. shibui@sisna.com.
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