Taurus

Taurus

2001 · 104 min · ★ 5.8 · Drama

Unfolding over two days in 1924, the film depicts the dying Lenin, world revolutionary and father of the USSR, now powerless and isolated at his Gorki estate. Cared for by his wife, Nadezhda Krupskaia, sister Maniasha, his German doctor and several attendants, Lenin raves about his diminishing faculties, discusses the deaths of great figures (including Marx), rides a car to a picnic in a meadow and ponders his historic legacy.

Directed by Aleksandr Sokurov · Written by Yuriy Arabov

Your Rating

Cast

Make it a double feature

3h 23m together

Taurus

Russian Ark

Both from Aleksandr Sokurov.

More from Aleksandr SokurovSee all →

Confession

Confession · 1998

SeriesDocumentary

Originally aired on Russian television, this five-part semi-documentary series tells the story of a Russian naval commander in charge of an Arctic-based ship. The film provokes a meditation on solitude and isolation, while revealing the daily duties associated with the ship. Voice-over narration by the commander, other sailors, and even a third-person voice provide the “confession” of the title.

Elegy of a Voyage

Elegy of a Voyage · 2009

Elegy of a Voyage

MovieDocumentary

This intimately narrated journey from Russia to Rotterdam, via rail, road and Finnish ferry, is a melancholy meditation on divinity, time and place in art, purpose (or its lack) and the loneliness of the soul. Passing through misty snowscapes, half-glimpsed cities and the icy night sea-swell.

The Knot

The Knot · 1998

MovieDocumentary

The Dialogues with Solzhenitsyn is a two-part Russian television documentary by Russian filmmaker Alexander Sokurov on Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. The documentary shot in Solzhenitsyn’s home shows his everyday life and covers his reflections on Russian history and literature.

Russian Ark

Russian Ark · 2002

MovieDramaFantasy

A ghost and a French marquis wander through the Winter Palace in St Petersburg, encountering scenes from many different periods of its history.

Closeness

Closeness · 2017

1998, Nalchik. A Jewish family is in trouble: the youngest son and his bride do not come home, and in the morning, a ransom note arrives. The ransom is so high that the family is forced not only to sell its small business, but also to seek help from its fellow tribesmen.

Fairytale

Fairytale · 2022

MovieDramaAnimation

A civil and artistic statement about those who determined the fate of the planet: Stalin, Churchill, Mussolini, Hitler, according to a Russian newspaper.

The Sun

The Sun · 2005

MovieDramaHistory

A re-imagination of Japanese Emperor Hirohito’s final days in power as WWII draws to a close.

Mother and Son

Mother and Son · 1997

A man goes for a walk through the countryside with his dying mother.

Faust

MovieFantasyDrama

A doctor in early 19th-century Germany becomes infatuated with the sister of a man he unintentionally killed and bargains with the Devil incarnate to conjure their union in exchange for his soul.

Francofonia

Francofonia · 2015

MovieDocumentary

Master filmmaker Alexander Sokurov (Russian Ark) transforms a portrait of the world-renowned museum into a magisterial, centuries-spanning reflection on the relation between art, culture and power.

Moscow Elegy

Moscow Elegy · 1987

MovieDocumentary

A 1988 documentary film directed by Alexander Sokurov, about the later life and death of Soviet Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky. The film was originally intended to mark the 50th birthday of Tarkovsky in 1982, which would have been before his death. Controversy with Soviet authorities about the film's style and content led to significant delays in the production.

Elegy

MovieDocumentary

The reburial of great Russian singer Feodor Chaliapin from Les Batignolles cemetery in Paris to Novo–Devitchye cemetery in Moscow. The daughters from Chaliapin’s second marriage travel to the Soviet Union for the ceremony.

The Degraded

The Degraded · 1980

This film was Sokurov's first feature at Lenfilm, roughly based on a short story by the contemporary Soviet writer Grigory Baklanov about the transitional period from power to subordinance.

Moloch

MovieDramaHistory

In 1942 Bavaria, Eva is alone, when Adolf arrives with Josef, his wife Magda, and Martin to spend a couple of days without politics.

Whispering Pages

Whispering Pages · 1994

Whispering Pages

An anonymous man wanders through decomposing, fog-enshrouded catacombs and encounters a series of “the degraded and the humiliated,” including a holy prostitute and a Kafkaesque bureaucrat.

Alexandra

Alexandra · 2007

Elderly Aleksandra visits her Russian soldier grandson, Denis, at the Chechen war front, providing comfort as she tours his army. All the while, Denis ponders the reason for her unexpected appearance.

More Like This

Couldn't load this row right now.

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter