This past weekend I saw Alone in Four Walls by Russian filmmaker Alexandra Westmeier. The film was part of the Margaret Mead Film Festival curated by my friend Ariella Ben-Dov, also the directer of MadCat Film Festival. This film is a portrait of Russian, disadvantaged, teenage boys, who are sent to a reform school/prison that seems a welcome break from the violence and alcoholism of home. In the post-Perestroika era, things have gone terribly wrong: a boy who steals jam is sentenced to the same amount of time as the boy who commits murder. The irony is when faced with children growing-up in hardship, prison terms are awards not sentences.
Because they come from seemingly dysfunctional, rural and impoverished families it is amazing how articulate they are able to be after just a short while at the school. They write letters home that astonish their parents, parents who never visit them. One father is shamed by his son's letter which implores his father "not to turn his back on his son!," at which the father says "Oh, he's gotten so clever!" It seems these boys have never been asked how they feel about themselves or their situation - their experience, their crimes, their life - and in turn give stunningly vulnerable and heartfelt descriptions of what their lives are like.
Life in this particular reform school allows these boys time for reflection, possibly for the first time. Although unfortunately formal therapy is not offered, spending 2-3 years in a safe place where daily life is structured, seems to do them a lot of good. One child who had killed another for ratting him out to the police for thievery, says when he first arrived at the school he didn't talk to anyone because he was so angry inside. But he found that talking made him feel better, and now he talks to everyone.
Ingo Westmeirer, the director's husband, is the cinematographer and the way the film is shot is nothing less than stunning. Using his HD video camera like a film camera, namely by having a camera assistant pull focus for him while he shoots, and the use of gels and sophisticated lighting, he achieves remarkable and sustaining imagery. The lighting is so soft and flattering even an old lady rubbing her guilt-ridden, calloused hands looks handsome and sympathetic.
Life in this particular reform school allows these boys time for reflection, possibly for the first time. Although unfortunately formal therapy is not offered, spending 2-3 years in a safe place where daily life is structured, seems to do them a lot of good. One child who had killed another for ratting him out to the police for thievery, says when he first arrived at the school he didn't talk to anyone because he was so angry inside. But he found that talking made him feel better, and now he talks to everyone.
Ingo Westmeirer, the director's husband, is the cinematographer and the way the film is shot is nothing less than stunning. Using his HD video camera like a film camera, namely by having a camera assistant pull focus for him while he shoots, and the use of gels and sophisticated lighting, he achieves remarkable and sustaining imagery. The lighting is so soft and flattering even an old lady rubbing her guilt-ridden, calloused hands looks handsome and sympathetic.
I was often reminded of a German photography sensibility while watching this film, the way it positions itself a-politically, quietly allowing the subjects to bloom, like a Becher photograph. The narrative follows several boys through their years behind bars, also documenting glimpses of what they will face when they get out: loitering boys beating each other up, poverty, depression. The editing parses poetically between overview and interview, personal circumstance and the narrative of a country in turmoil, to great effect.
OFFICIAL SELECTION - 2008 Sundance Film Festival
OFFICIAL SELECTION - 2008 Berlin International Film Festival
OFFICIAL SELECTION - 2008 Sundance Film Festival
OFFICIAL SELECTION - 2008 Berlin International Film Festival
