The world these physicists inhabit is a fundamentally inhuman one. The institute they work in is full sharp angles, long corridors and imposing machinery yet this is a movie about how humanity, and most importantly love, will constantly find a way to peek through this inhuman world. One of the first shots is of an unnamed pair of physicists sitting in front of a huge control panel and nervously reaching to hold each others hands before being interrupted by a blaring siren. Coming at the peak of the Khruschev thaw, this is a clear allusion to life under Stalinism and possibly a subtle critique of the system as a whole.
This is a film driven by ideas that are constantly being worked out through between the characters. Both the idealist Gusev and the cynic Kulikov are archetypes of the new men born of the Soviet system. It is notable therefor that it is Gusev who must suffer and die for his commitment to his idea, whilst the cynic Kulikov survives just as the earlier idealism of the Soviet project eventually give way to a profoundly cynical reality.
But in many ways these high minded discussions serve as a shield for these characters to avoid confronting their own emotions. As both Gusev and his mentor Sintsov separately face their impending deaths they babble about future experiments and extol the scientific method, whilst Gusev's wife Lyolya is able to cut through this by simply saying "I love you"
Whilst this dialogic style is one of the great strength of this movie is in some ways its greatest weakness as it becomes dense and a bit of a tough watch but having seen it a couple of times there's so many layers and different themes that its definitely worth watching.
The world these physicists inhabit is a fundamentally inhuman one. The institute they work in is full sharp angles, long corridors and imposing machinery yet this is a movie about how humanity, and most importantly love, will constantly find a way to peek through this inhuman world. One of the first shots is of an unnamed pair of physicists sitting in front of a huge control panel and nervously reaching to hold each others hands before being interrupted by a blaring siren. Coming at the peak of the Khruschev thaw, this is a clear allusion to life under Stalinism and possibly a subtle critique of the system as a whole.
This is a film driven by ideas that are constantly being worked out through between the characters. Both the idealist Gusev and the cynic Kulikov are archetypes of the new men born of the Soviet system. It is notable therefor that it is Gusev who must suffer and die for his commitment to his idea, whilst the cynic Kulikov survives just as the earlier idealism of the Soviet project eventually give way to a profoundly cynical reality.
But in many ways these high minded discussions serve as a shield for these characters to avoid confronting their own emotions. As both Gusev and his mentor Sintsov separately face their impending deaths they babble about future experiments and extol the scientific method, whilst Gusev's wife Lyolya is able to cut through this by simply saying "I love you"
Whilst this dialogic style is one of the great strength of this movie is in some ways its greatest weakness as it becomes dense and a bit of a tough watch but having seen it a couple of times there's so many layers and different themes that its definitely worth watching.
