Moloch on AllMovie

Each film of Alexandre Sokurov, considered by many the living Andrei Tarkovsky of the Russian cinema, is a new revelation. Moloch's narrative structure is based on the relationship between one of the most important figures of the twentieth century, Adolf Hitler, and the only person who ever dared to contradict him, his beloved Eva Braun. The year is 1942. On the majestic terraces of the ominous fortress of Berchtesgaden, perched above the Bavarian Alps, a woman prances in the nude, waving randomly at the spying telescopes. This is the restless Eva (Elena Rufanova), who is waiting for her beloved "Adi," the Fuhrer (Leonid Mosgovoi), who arrives with a thunder and bolt. In his entourage are his right-hand man Martin Bormann and his propaganda specialist Joseph Goebbels with his loving wife, Magda. The scene is set for a peaceful retreat of several hours. However, an uncontrollable war is raging in the heart of Eva, who is caught in the complexities of a man incapable of intimacy. Rather than a historical treatise, the film is a psychological study of the man who was the terror of the twentieth century and the person who was the closest to him. The clue to how it all happened seems to be hidden in some of the intimate moments between the two characters. Sokurov is dealing with a very sensitive subject in a film which is a complex reflection on power. Each frame carries the mark of his previous nine films and is a testimony to his meticulous art. Moloch is a very powerful film that gives the impression that time is suspended. Particularly for this reason, it is not recommended to those who like their cinema fast paced and light-hearted. Sokurov used Russian theater actors from St. Petersburg to shoot the film, but their voices were later dubbed by theater actors from Berlin. The film received the Best Screenplay award of the 52nd Cannes Film Festival, 1999.