FREEZE-DIE-COME TO LIFE Movie Review

Zamri Oumi Voskresni

Near the end of World War II, two children (Pavel Nazarov and Dinara Drukarova) living in poverty in the remote mining village of Suchan, have only their wits and their precious sense of humor to guide them though the bleakness of their situation. This humane, sensitive, and inventively photographed Russian film marks the directorial debut of Vitaly Kanevski, who himself spent eight years in a Soviet labor camp prior to commencing production. Kanevski was given a green light on the production, but then was told that the finished product was unacceptable in the version in which he delivered it. Editing was done and redone in a race to make the film ready for competition at Cannes, while still appeasing official party censors. Ultimately, Freeze-Die-Come to Life did make it to Cannes, where it won the coveted Camera d'Or award for Best First Feature. As a result, this poetic and stirring little film did receive American distribution, though it was sadly limited.

NEXT STOP … Repentance, Commissar, Cardiogram

1990 105m/B RU Pavel Nazarov, Dinara Drukarova; D: Vitaly Kanevski; W: Vitaly Kanevski; C: Vladimir Brylyakov; M: Sergei Banevich. VHS FXL, BST, ING