Alexei to Izumi
2002 / 104m - Japan
Documentary
1.5*/5.0*
Alexei and the Spring poster

Watches

March 09, 2023

1.5*/5.0*

Not a documentary I really cared for. The premise isn't too bad, but the result is what I feared it would be. It's a look at a small Russian village, where people live far away from civilization, going about their business. It's a very typical look at Russia (poverty porn warning) that I rarely care for.

The village is called Budische, a small town not too far away from Chernobyl. When disaster strikes, people are asked to move away. The younger people oblige, but the old folks decide to stay because they believe in the power of their well. The only younger person who remains is Alexei.

The doc shows us how these people live, doing agricultural work, providing for themselves, with a minimum of modern tooling (though there is some). The setting is nice (and with a proper score underneath, it makes for some soothing scenes), but most of the doc focuses on the people who stayed behind, and they just didn't interest me all that much.