https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ms4TXwIDutM<\/p>\n
Many people in the West\u00a0also appreciated the power of this movie. Here are excerps from imdb reviews.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything is great about this movie. The story is really short to get you into the mood in the orgasmic kind of way, and it will keep you at the edge of your sit to the very last second. Beautiful actors. The film is shot in beautiful widescreen \u2013 an absolutely breathtaking cinematography. The only thing bad about this movie is that it is too short!!!! Don’t get me wrong, it is a full-length film, but it’s ended just a couple of hours earlier than I expected. Just watch it! You will not regret it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis movie is absolutely great. Greatly filmed, greatly directed, greatly acted. But thats nothing to what hides behind all the image, where this movie becomes a masterpiece. Its about a life of a man, who made a sin, and all his life have been asking god to forgive him for his sin. In his praying he have got a power to help other people to get rid of their sins.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe that “Ostrov” (the Island) is among the great pieces of world and Russian cinema somewhere close to Bergman and Tarkovsky. For Russia – it is an important and timely message. For those who want to know more of “the mysterious Russian [indeed, the Orthodox] soul” – it is an excellent description. I’ve hardly seen a better one. For all taking the spiritual development seriously – the film will also be useful no matter what is their religion. People say that they are becoming better and cleaner after watching the film. Those who are used to a lot of action on the screen would require to concentrate. It is more a meditation rather than a blockbuster. Strongly recommend to watch.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis movie is a cry for God, for repentance, for continuous prayer, for simplicity and humbleness, especially now in a Babylonian “unified” world where “political correctness” is more important than anything spiritual that might turn man to God. We know how to say “I’m sorry” in many sophisticated and intellectual ways but we don’t feel it. We are cold. A movie that has the power to save our souls. From the same realm, the last excellent film I saw was Tarkovsky’s Andrei Rublev. You don’t need 10 lines of text to summarize this movie…. one word that defines perfectly this masterpiece is “prayer”!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOstrov gives the viewer a rare and deeper than ever before glimpse at a “starets” (elder) and “iurodivy” (fool for Christ), embodied by the main character Fr. Anatoli. These spiritual figures – unique to Eastern Orthodox Christianity – possess a prophetic spiritual insight, and in the case of the iurodivy use odd behavior and humor to spiritually awaken those around them. The film is set in an isolated skete during Soviet times, when Russian society was forcibly steeped into atheism. The film’s actors deliver top notch performances, the cinematography is excellent, and the sound design is thought through. A great film for those who want to get a truly spiritual experience, and encounter a world that few in the west are familiar with.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI had anticipated that somehow the clergy depicted would be subjected to at least subtle ridicule, which has become common practice in most films produced in the West. Refreshingly, this was not the case. I had never suspected that a work of such spiritual dynamism could arise so soon from the ashes of the Soviet Union. The main characters were presented as spiritually honest people, who consciously struggled with their human weaknesses. The presentation of Russian Orthodox monastic practice was quite intriguing and instructive.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c”Ostrov” is a testimony for those interested about the Russian soul, which is deeply religious and rooted in Orthodox Christianity. I think the main target of the movie were the Russian themselves, or maybe, by extension, those nations who are traditionally Orthodox Christian, but forgot their roots. The movie tries to bring into attention the essence of Orthodox Christian belief – the reunification of man with God, which is done through repentance and unceased prayer, in humbleness and ascetic struggle. According to the same beliefs, God is the one who works this union in co-operation with the man. Nevertheless, beside it’s religious significance, “Ostrov” has a brilliant image directing, with superb shots of the remote locations, and a very good and balanced script – even a surprising final turnaround, for those who may have felt the need for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Fr](\"https:\/\/www.ellopos.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/ostrov.jpg\" "\\"Fr")
<\/p>\n
Cf. Ostrov official page (Russian)<\/a>, Ostrov is a 2006 Russian movie (112 min., English title \u201cThe Island\u201d), directed by Pavel Lungin, written by Dmitri Sobolev. Aesthetically resembling (schematically)\u00a0a somewhat faster Tarkovsky, Ostrov is a movie of hard work yet seemingly simple, which shows maturity. It can be watched as a modern Vita (Life)\u00a0of a saint. The movie became instantly popular […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_disable_autopaging":false},"categories":[191,5,12,10],"tags":[731,118,5694,424,302,53,422,423,152,153,586],"class_list":["post-224","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cinema","category-education","category-modern-literature","category-orthodox-christianity","tag-asceticism","tag-byzantium","tag-cinema","tag-dmitri-sobolev","tag-monasticism","tag-orthodoxy","tag-ostrov","tag-pavel-lungin","tag-russia","tag-russian-orthodoxy","tag-socialist-realism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ellopos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ellopos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ellopos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ellopos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ellopos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=224"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ellopos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ellopos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ellopos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ellopos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nRussian \/ Greek New Testament<\/a>,
\nMouravieff, Introduction of Christianity into Russia<\/a>,
\nMeyendorff, Christ as Word Gospel and Culture<\/a>,
\nThe Orthodox Church<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"