Prisoner on the Mountain Review
Prisoner
on the Mountain is a film whose aesthetics is captured primarily in the
picturesque Caucasus Mountains landscape where the movie was filmed. Directed
by Sergei Bodrov while starring Oleg Menshikov and Sergei Bodrov Jr., this film
takes a stand against war and takes a unique perspective on the human cost
associated with it; not only in numerical casualties, but it also explores the
loss of meaningful life even to those who survive through the end. Although
countless other films attempt to portray this, and many do it effectively, Prisoner
on the Mountain utilizes more distinctive methods to portray this apart
from the standard sentimentality or shockingly violent approaches often seen.
One of these is the element of time. Throughout this movie, time is used as a
metaphor for hope, used as a contrast between passiveness and urgency, and
applied to the characters in order to show their relative positions within the
vast world they inhabit and the events that take place around them.
Concrete
time makes appearances in the forms of clocks and watches, which symbolically
measure out the hope on part of the characters. The characters constantly try
to buy time in order to accomplish their individual needs (for example, Abdul
allows more time to make the trade; he constantly pushes for more time for the
soldiers to live, etc.) In the scene directly after the Russian army refuses to
bring AbdulÕs son, Abdul is seen throwing down his watch, upset that it no
longer works. Subsequently, we see Vanya fixing the watch and later on
returning it to Abdul who realizes that it Òdoes workÓ. Metaphorically, this
represents a brief loss of hope on AbdulÕs part and the regaining of it thanks
to Vanya. When Abdul finally loses his son for good, he loses all hope and
decides to kill Vanya. It is when Vanya realizes this that he cannot fix the
clock for the stranger, or offer any more hope. Of course, in the end Abdul
decides not to kill Vanya, realizing that his sonÕs death is not his fault.
In the scene mentioned above, VanyaÕs excuse for not fixing
the clock is that he does not have enough time. This time, the burden is too
big to bear. The owner of the clock simply retorts ÒWhat kind of life is this
where no one has time to fix a clock.Ó In the context of the film, this
statement makes mention of how people are so preoccupied with war, that they
cannot fix time even for their own lives, and often roam about without hope. In
addition, the question itself posed by the villager carries more philosophy to
it than just ÒAre you the Russian who fixes clocks, or is he already dead?Ó
Figuratively, he is essentially asking if Vanya has any more hope in him to
keep going, or if all hope is lost. By this point in the film, Vanya has given
up and come to terms with his expected (yet ultimately unrealized) fate.
In
addition, the element of time constantly presents a contrast when involving the
actions of the characters; throughout everybody is either waiting for something
to happen, or is in a state of urgency. There is also the amount of time they
remain idle in captivity before they attempt the escape. During their escape,
Vanya and Sasha constantly wait, kill (Hassan), then run, then wait, kill (the
Shepherd), and then run before they are caught. Even in the scene where the
shepherd is killed it takes place in a pastoral idyllic setting; also when
AbdulÕs son is killed, following the excitement is his motionless body lying in
what looks like a desert, as with SashaÕs dead body shortly after. Dina
instructs Vanya to hurry out of the cave, but instead he decides to wait there.
The Russian army officer appropriately describes the situation as Òattack,
retreat, make peace, make war,Ó commenting on the futility of it all. The only
person who finds perpetual peace is Sasha, once he is dead, thus hinting to the
viewer that in a world plagued by war, this is the only true solace to be
found.
Finally,
the vastness of time itself is starkly juxtaposed to the short lived existences
led by people who share in only a small portion of time as a whole. The
mountains reign superior against the small insignificant village that it
houses- along with those who dwell there. These mountains stand the test of
time while human beings of all generations, as shown in various scenes
celebrating or mourning together, are constantly being swayed back and forth by
the battles that have plagued the region for generations. The sad truth is, as
depicted by the director and writer, that despite how short lived people are,
their lives are further wasted away by the toils and torments of war: people
hurry through everything and barley take time to relax- unless in anticipation
for another emergency. This loss of meaning in culture and life is often the
true human cost of war.