Review of The Island (2007) by Bro H — 07 Jul 2011

Life imitates art in this tale of redemption for a man who spends most of his adult life as a monk in an Orthodox monastery on an isolated Russian shoreline, attempting to make up for a tragic killing as a young sailor in the 2WW Russian navy.

Lead actor, Pyotr Mamonov, converted to the Orthodox faith in the 1990s and now lives as a virtual hermit in an isolated village outside Moscow. After seeing the events during the war, we move forward 30 years.

This monk lives isolated from the rest of the monastery in its boiler house, sleeping on a pile of coal (the war killing took place on a coal barge). He is unkempt, fond of practical jokes and looked down upon by some members of his community.

But people come from far and wide to see him for guidance, healing, prayer, etc... I loved this film, but being a practising Christian (and even more so a religious Brother) myself helps to give it an extra dimension for me.

I found myself joining in the scenes involving personal or community prayer. But it is also a visually striking film, reminiscent in its beautiful widescreen seascapes of another recent Russian film, "The Return", also set on a barren Russian coastline for the most part.

Lead actor Mamonov is simply mesmerising. One believes totally in his personal spiritual odyssey, experience etched into the lines on his charismatic face. The film is slightly hampered by some awkward subtitle translations, but this does not detract from the spiritual power and prayerfulness of this simple, but emotionally affecting tale.