Alexei and the spring

Sheffield International Documentary Festival
2002

Alexei and the Spring
Seiichi Motohashi
Presented with the support of the Japan Foundation

Lydia Esler

The Chernobyl nuclear power plant explosion in 1986 left a huge swathe of south-eastern Belarus uninhabitable, and dozens of villages abandoned. Budische was one of these villages: where it had once had more than six hundred residents, only 56 remain today. All are elderly, except for the gentle 34-year-old Alexei. The villagers survive thanks to a one hundred year old uncontaminated spring, which serves as the centre of the village's spiritual life.

This film looks at a forgotten culture. In cinematic oxymoron, it is a 'natural construction' of beauty. Beauty is simply filmed and filmed simply. Many shots simply take in Alexei's surroundings; the fields, sunrises or sunsets. But the editing confuses the continuity of viewing these landscapes as it jumps from season to season and back again, which makes one wonder how true to the story and actuality of events the filmmaker has been. The question of truth within documentaries is not a new one and is often discussed as a contentious issue.

Alexei and the Spring depicts a main character acting as the narrator. The story is told from his perspective and a certain bias towards him seems evident: the film supposes a romantic notion that Alexei has not left the village because of loyalty to his parents and the village congregation. It seems to me, however, that Alexei's disability may be the actual cause preventing him from leaving - though his disability may have been caused by radiation at Chernobyl, thus making it more relevant to the main strand of the narrative. The film maintains its romanticism throughout: the opening shot is a point of view of a cart travelling forwards in the snow with captivating music to accompany the image, and the recurring motifs of natural beauty are abundant.

Alexei is reflective character because of the generation gap between himself and the other inhabitants, making his role of narrator easier to adopt. The director captures real emotions across a linguistic and cultural divide: the story is touching, and makes one long for a lifestyle the West will never again experience. The pace of life is slow, the important things in life are appreciated and the fundamental basics of our existence are brought home in this film.

The individuals astound in their simplicity: it is said that once you cannot haul water you cannot live in the village. The villagers carry thirty kilos of water in each journey. The motto of the people - 'To Work is to Live' renders all material elements irrelevant. The community is backward (a bus visits the village only twice a week and farming is done with horses) and looks backwards, to the past, holding on to a way of life which will soon die. The average age of the villagers is 71, and when the inhabitants are gone the ethos of the village and the ethos of the film will be lost too. Fortunately it will live on in this film.