Elegy of the Land
ELEGY OF THE LAND contains two shorts by Alexander Sokurov about the significance of the land to Russia, where it has an almost spiritual meaning. Both films are embued with the director’s signature moody melancholy. "Maria," made in memory of Russian peasant Maria Semionovna Voinova, serves as not only a requiem for a hard-working woman but also for a way of life. Maria grew flax, and after her death, her secrets and methods of working in the fields were lost. "The Last Day of a Rainy Summer" was shot in 1978 on a Russian collective farm called a kolkhoze, which was responsible for supplying agricultural products for other parts of the country. "Last Day" captures the daily routines of this farming community, a lifestyle fading even as it was being chronicled.