You might not know his name yet — his spellbinding works still aren’t available on home video in the States — but globally, this Russian director’s reputation as a nonfiction auteur is secure.
A talented soulful craftsman, Kossakovsky is capable of eliciting a laugh from your belly one moment and then, with the switch of a frame, a lump in your throat. It’s his unique eye for arresting compositions, his graceful editing instincts, his ear for a surprising musical cue, his sense of humor, his humanity and, above all, his faith in spontaneity that gives his work its unforgettable charge.
After his breakthrough film The Belovs (1993), he created a cinematic portrait of the people who share his birthday and birthplace (1997’s Wednesday—19.7.1961), spent a year by his apartment window filming a construction site (2003’s amusing Hush!) and watched his son stare at his reflection for the first time (2005’s Svyato). And now his latest masterpiece. ¡Vivan las Antipodas!, a complex awestruck portrait of the physical organism we live on. Like the best of his work, it’s an intensely emotional experience that manages to feel both intimate and expansive.
Kossakovsky, who both shoots and compiles his observational footage, follows his own set of ten rules. Take heed of the last one: “Don’t follow my rules. Find your won. There is something that only you can film.” (CB)