Mournful Unconcern
1987 · 110 MIN · IMDB 6.6 · 337 VOTES · DIR. Aleksandr Sokurov
Overview
The action in this lavishly produced film takes place at an oddly ark-shaped mansion during World War I, and in spirit (although not in story) it reflects the play which inspired it, the ferociously antiwar Heartbreak House by George Bernard Shaw. A large group of family and friends have gathered at this country house to dance, drink, and converse. Their conversation, in particular, is adorned with erudite literary references and quotations. Despite their apparent refinement, their preoccupations are simple: sex and violence. Disquieting images break the tranquility of the vacationers' inappropriate idyll: some of these include documentary footage of starving African children, images (both real and re-enacted) of George Bernard Shaw going about his daily life, and a corpse coming to life on an autopsy table, only to cheapen that miracle by scolding a group of women. The music used in the film ironically points to its disturbing message and is uniformly anachronistic.
Dialogue Timeline - 889 lines
A SAMPLE ACROSS THE RUNTIME - EVERY LINE IS SEARCHABLE
00:00:01 LENFILM
00:04:18 Goodbye, goodbye...
00:08:24 Though my father has not been a successful man...
00:11:41 that my wife had died at 2:30 in the morning.
00:14:50 I see that you've been made at home.
00:16:58 It's not a parrot.
00:20:54 He was furious, of course.
00:23:45 Ellie!
00:29:24 I have a habit.
00:32:43 Obviously, I'm too poor and humble.
00:39:03 Excuse me, do you have a sharpener?
00:41:26 - For the good of science. - Yes, yes!
00:44:30 Hesione...
00:51:28 I did not want to wake up at all.
00:53:12 I can...
00:58:40 You must do what your soul tells you to.
01:01:13 I left behind a wife in Africa.
01:04:37 None at all.
01:08:04 - ... Galileo. - Eh, Hector!
01:12:05 It's rain.
01:13:54 but others as well.
01:18:47 This isn't half bad.
01:24:18 He shot poorly.
01:30:03 Dr. Knife: Vadim Zhuk Randall: Andrei Reshetin