The Alexander Sokurov Collection (3 DVD)

A collection of films by Russian director Alexander Sokurov. Includes; SAVE AND PROTECT, SECOND CIRCLE and ELERGY OF LIFE. SAVE AND PROTECT - Sexual excess eventually degenerates into madness in this extremely explicit (and repetitive) feature from the late Soviet period in Russia. The story is loosely based on Madame Bovary and it takes place in a remote region of Russia, and is only vaguely anchored in time. It concerns the efforts of a highly imaginative and sensitive doctor's wife to bring some life to her dull existence. Certainly her plodding husband is no help. Thus, when she is not exclaiming in French, she seeks out, and has sex with, seemingly the whole male population of her town - in fields, in wagons - anywhere, and everywhere. SECOND CIRCLE - SECOND CIRCLE is about the absence of connections between people and the mechanical insertion of once-important rituals into their lives. In the story, a young man (Petr Alexandrov) shares a dingy apartment with his father, who has had the poor judgement to die on a weekend. Because of this, the son has to keep his father's body in the house, since undertakers don't work on weekends. This gives him an opportunity to consider his father's death and the human situation at close hand. In this film, the corpse gets to consider the son, as well. The young man has difficulty raising the tiny amount he needs to give to the undertaker to get him to take his father's body away for burial, but finally succeeds in this. ELERGY OF LIFE - Documentary featuring Writer/director Alexander Sokurov conducts comprehensive interviews with legendary cellist/conductor Mstislav Rostropovich and his soprano-singing wife Galina Vishnevskaya in this documentary that uses the couple's lavish fiftieth wedding anniversary dinner as a launching point to explore their remarkable careers.