It is Archangel, Russia in 1919 between World War I and the Russian Civil War. British Lieutenant John Boles(Kyle McCulloch) is assigned to billet with a native family where he winds up saving the life of Geza(David Falkenburg), their young child, but then he ends up having to be saved, too. In his delirium, he
thinks he sees Iris, his dead wife, but it turns out to be only Veronkha(Kathy Marykuca) who is in fact married to Philbin(Ari Cohen). The only problem is Philbin cannot remember much of anything, much less who he might be married to.
One never watches a Guy Maddin film for historical realism(usually it involves being in the mood for something a little different) but it is important to note that "Archangel," one of his earliest features, is set in a time of uncertainty when nobody knows who is in charge or if there is a actually a war going on which is perfect for his dreamy style. That informs a lot of the relations between the characters which I could not sort out in a hundred years. That having been said, I still found enough to be intriguing and enjoyable to make it worth my time.
December 6, 2010
Top Critic
