Spiritual Voices

From 1994 to 1995, Alexander Sokurov spent several months "embedded" with the 11th Frontier Post of the Russian Army's Moscow Border Detachment, which at the time was guarding the Tajik-Afghan border against incursions by Taliban fighters. The result is this five-part, five-hour film that evocatively shows the soldiers’ lives in this desolate environment. The political-military situation never becomes clear, and the soldiers remain anonymous. The faceless enemy is never far away. The camera records units on patrol in the rugged mountains, the dust and dirt. The troops' daily routine consists of military formalities and domestic chores: preparing tasteless-looking meals and defusing landmines. Don't expect tales of heroism or exciting combat footage, nor intrigues between the soldiers and their officers. If weapons have to be used, the camera remains safely behind the line, a microphone recording the sounds of battle from a safe distance. Nor is there a narrative structure - this film is all about aesthetic expression. Guarding the border turns out to be deathly boring, but with danger constantly looming in the background. The general feeling could be said to be one of hopelessness. In the words of one Russian border guard, "NATO soldiers would have killed themselves long ago."