Synopsis
Miron Alekseevich, director of a paper and pulp mill, goes to bury his wife Tanya in the place where they once spent their honeymoon. He goes not alone, but with a photographer named Stork, to whom he tells touching details of his life with Tanya. The narrative weaves together the memories of the characters, as well as the rituals and beliefs of the Meri people, a small Finnish tribe that once lived in the Northern Volga region and dissolved among the Russians.
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Cast
- Yuliya AugTanya
- Igor SergeevAist
- Viktor SukhorukovVesa
- Yuriy TsuriloMiron
- Vyacheslav MelekhovBird Seller
- Yulia TushinaAist's Mother
- Ivan TushinYoung Aist
- Leisan SitdikovaRimma
- Olga DobrinaYuliya
- Sergey YarmolyukInspector
Recommendations
- 100
Los Angeles Times
Silent Souls is a marvel. Fedorchenko's expressive powers and his visual prowess are astonishing, and though the film's conclusion is abrupt and confounding, it feels right. - 83
The A.V. Club
While the pace and the dour, meditative tone of Silent Souls can sometimes verge on parodically arthouse-esque, the sincerity of the film's thoughts on loss and longing, on the burdens of grief, and on reawakened awareness of existence, is always painfully heartfelt. - 80
Time Out
Even at a mere 75 minutes, Silent Souls is thrillingly dense and allusive, and the elegiac finale maintains the overall air of mystery while beautifully bringing all the disparate threads together. - 75
Slant Magazine
Folklore, rituals, and the past weigh heavily on Silent Souls, which is somewhat endemic of films from Fedorchenko's home country of Russia. - 70
The Hollywood Reporter
Disquieting and unforgettable, like a good ghost story, this is a special film for special tastes whose admirers inhabit festivals and smaller niche markets. - 70
Village Voice
Dour yet affirmative, this laconic, deliberately paced, beautifully shot movie seeks the archaic in the ordinary - and, though somewhat off-putting in its diffidence, largely succeeds. - 70
The New York Times
Silent Souls is part folk tale, part lesson in letting go. In its quiet acceptance of the passing of time, this unusual film reminds us that to die is not always the same as to disappear. - 67
Christian Science Monitor
Much of the film is wordless, and apparently some of the Merjan ritualism is a concoction of the filmmakers. There's a trancelike quality to its best moments, but too much of it is artfully boring. Silent Souls is at the opposite extreme from Hollywood – it's all mood. Be careful what you wish for.
