Gregory's Server
My journey with Konstantin Lopushansky’s work began with his post-apocalyptic trilogy. The first of these films, Dead Man’s Letters (1986), explores the aftermath of a nuclear apocalypse. This was followed by Visitor to a Museum (1989), which depicts an ecological catastrophe, and finally Russian Symphony (1994), which delves into the spiritual decay of the Soviet individual. Lopushansky’s later works also held my interest, but a special moment for me came when I recently discovered Through Black Glass (2019) — a film I had somehow overlooked for five years.
The film’s protagonist, Anastasia, is a young woman who has been blind since birth and lives in an orphanage at a convent. She is given a chance to regain her sight in a German clinic, but there is a condition: she must marry an unknown benefactor who has funded her operation. The plot feels archetypal, and I could predict the ending as early as twenty minutes into the movie. Yet, the beauty of the story lies in its simplicity; it’s what unfolds between the lines that holds the real depth.
Lopushansky’s films consistently explore the theme of spiritual decline against the backdrop of material apocalypse, weaving together elements of a final reckoning. Through Black Glass, however, offers a contrasting vision: it juxtaposes spiritual emptiness with material wealth, embodied by Russian business. Given the opportunity for spiritual healing, the characters instead choose a path of base desires and total destruction. The film mirrors contemporary Russian society — cold and unyielding, yet still harboring a faint hope for redemption.
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My journey with Konstantin Lopushansky’s work began with his post-apocalyptic trilogy. The first of these films, Dead Man’s Letters (1986), explores the aftermath of a nuclear apocalypse. This was followed by Visitor to a Museum (1989), which depicts an ecological catastrophe, and finally Russian Symphony (1994), which delves into the spiritual decay of the Soviet individual. Lopushansky’s later works also held my interest, but a special moment for me came when I recently discovered Through Black...
@henry interesting post. I have been wanting to learn more about Russian cinema. I have watched three Aleksandr Ethanol films through MST3K .