THE ISLAND, TSAR AND THE CONDUCTOR: THE BIBLE READ BY PAVEL LUNGIN
Several critics have observed that recent films by Pavel Lungin are immersed in the universe of the Russian Orthodox Church: the main figure of The Island is a contrite monk, Tsar relates a conflict between Ivan the Terrible and the metropolitan of Moscow, in The Conductor Lungin tells dramatic evolution of the premiere of musical St. Matthew Passion.
This religious milieu of the films is not limited to Orthodox Christianity: a detailed analysis reveals the presence of biblical sources of dialogues or of the construction of the films. The Island is a kind of meditation on the Psalms, the Gospel and St. Paul’s theology of the sin and its redemption. Tsar is situated in a Pre-Apocaliptic world: the cruel Russian emperor is convinced of the imminence of the Judgement Day and of his role of the king anointed by God. In The Conductor — like in Jesus of Montreal — the Passion of the Christ is present on diverse levels: sung in the Passion composed by Hilarion Alfeyev, lived by its singers and conductor, perverted in a suicide bombing. In this trilogy the Bible is cited, actualized in the events, present in the structure of the movie narration.
Translated by Marek Lis