Exploring femininity and masculinity in the films of Aleksandr Sokurov (a sequel to the series, Oedipus Rex - A Tribute to Greek Drama).

For years, Sokurov had been touted as the heir apparent to Andrei Tarkovsky as Russia’s film master. Indeed, Sokurov was Tarkovsky’s prized student at the Moscow Film School (VGIK), and in one of his final interviews Tarkovsky said of him, “You see, in Leningrad there is a young director, a cinematic genius. His name is Alexander Sokurov.” For those who know how stingy Tarkovsky was with his accolades, that is an impressive complement. Though Sokurov acknowledges Tarkovsky as a major source of inspiration (and has also made a documentary on Tarkovsky entitled Moscow Elegy in his Elegy series), he is quick to refute much of a direct influence. As he has said, “I would say that we had a very close friendship rather than collegial collaboration” (Film Comment, Nov.-Dec., 1997, p. 23). [by Donato Totaro - offscreen.com]