Fairytale by Sokurov

FRAGMENTS OF WORK BOOKS to the film

" F A I R Y T A L E "

BY ALEXANDER SOKUROV

"THIS IS A DIFFICULT TIME AND NOTHING TO ADD. A TIME IMMERSED IN TRAGEDIES, MISFORTUNES, THE COLLAPSE OF CIVILIZATION.

WHOLE CITIES PERISHED, FORESTS BURNED DOWN, MILLIONS OF RURAL RESIDENTS – CARRIERS OF NATIONAL FOLK AESTHETICS AND TRADITIONS - PERISHED.

HOW CAN WE UNDERSTAND THE PARADOXES OF HUMAN LIFE, HUMAN EXISTENCE? HOW CAN WE NOT TO DROWN ONCE AGAIN IN TEARS, DESPAIR, AND NOT FINDING ANSWERS TO THE SIMPLEST QUESTIONS?"

AS AN AUTHOR, I WILL TRY TO LOOK AT MY HEROES WITH LIGHT HUMOR, AND MAYBE WITH THE INTONATION OF HARD SARCASM. HOW I WILL DO IT? I DO NOT KNOW.

I WILL WATCH NEWSREELS WITH THE PARTICIPATION OF THE DESIGNATED HEROES AND TRY TO REMOVE ALL THE PATHOS AND SIGNS OF ALLUVIAL GREATNESS FROM PEOPLE WHO ARE KNOWN AROUND THE WORLD AS EXAMPLES OF GREATNESS OR CRIME.

I WILL TRY TO BUILD A FILM IN THE FORM OF A PARALLEL NARRATIVE, WHEN WE WILL BE IMMERSED IN THE WORLD OF INTERNAL MONOLOGUES OF OUR "HEROES", WHERE THERE WILL BE NOT SO MUCH POLITICS, BUT MORE REACTION TO THEIR EVERYDAY LIFE, TO THE CAPRICIOUS CHANGE OF THEIR MOODS, TO THEIR FOCUS ON THEIR GREATNESS AND UNLIMITED POWER.

"LET'S SMILE, LET'S LAUGH. LET'S TRY TO UNDERSTAND THROUGH THE PARADOX OF PERSPECTIVE, THE POINT OF VIEW OF HISTORICAL PERSONALITIES, HISTORICAL COLLISIONS, IN WHOSE HANDS THE HISTORICAL FATE WAS. WHAT KIND OF PEOPLES SURROUNDED OUR WINNERS AND LOSERS".

IF WE SUCCEED, LET'S TRY TO LOOK INTO THE DREAMS OF OUR HEROES. WHAT ARE THEY DREAMING ABOUT? WHO ARE THEY TALKING TO IN THEIR SLEEP? WHY DO THEY SUDDENLY WAKE UP?

AND WHAT DO PEOPLE WHO LOOK AT THEM FROM SQUARES, TRAIN STATIONS, LUXURY AVENUES THINK? ARE ALL THESE PEOPLE SO UNITED IN THEIR DELIGHT AND REVERENCE?

WE WILL TRY TO UNDERSTAND THIS BY LOOKING AT THE FACES OF ITALIANS, FRENCH, GERMANSAND ENGLISHMEN. WE WILL HEAR WHAT THEY ARE SAYING AT THIS TIME, WHISPERING.

HOW UNIVERSAL, UNIFIED, UNIFORM, SOLIDARY WAS THE ATTITUDE TOWARDS THAT DIFFICULT TIME.

"MULTILINGUAL MOVIE. I EMPHASIZE THAT EACH OF THE CHARACTERS EXISTS, SPEAKS HIS OWN LANGUAGE IN THE FILM.

ACTING VOICE ACTING, SYNCHRONIZATION WITH ARTICULATION WITH A CHRONICLE IMAGE WILL ALLOW YOU TO FORM AN ADDITIONAL, NEW INTEREST IN WHAT IS HAPPENING ON THE SCREEN".

OF COURSE, THERE IS A PLACE FOR CINEMA IN THIS FILM. ALL THESE CHARACTERS HAD THEIR OWN SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP WITH THE SCREEN. EACH OF THEM DISTINGUISHED CINEMA FROM THE GENERAL RANGE OF CULTURE.

IT SEEMS TO ME THAT IN A FEW EPISODES THESE "MOVIE LOVERS" WILL SUDDENLY SING. EACH IN HIS OWN WAY, TRYING TO KEEP UP WITH THE THOUGHTS OF MY HEROES ABOUT WHAT AWAITS THEM AHEAD.

AND EACH OF THEM WILL END THESE REFLECTIONS WITH CONFIDENCE IN VICTORY.

"WHAT SHOULD THE VIEWER THINK ABOUT WHEN FINISHING WATCHING THIS MOVIE?

ABOUT THE HUMAN NATURE OF ANY HISTORICAL ACTION, AND ABOUT THE HUMAN CAUSE OF ANY TRAGEDY. BEHIND EVERYTHING IS A MAN WITH HIS SIMPLE HUMAN CHARACTER".

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