Moloch (1999 film)

1999 Russian film

Moloch

DVD release cover

Directed by| Alexander Sokurov
Written by| Yuri Arabov
Marina Koreneva
Produced by| Andrey Deryabin
Thomas Kufus
Rio Santani
Michael Schmid-Ospach
Viktor Sergeyev
Starring| Leonid Mozgovoy
Yelena Rufanova
Vladimir Bogdanov
Leonid Sokol
Yelena Spiridonova
Anatoli Shvedersky
Cinematography| Aleksei Fyodorov
Anatoli Rodionov
Edited by| Leda Semyonova

Production
companies

Arte
Fabrica
Fusion Product
Goskino
Lenfilm Studio
Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR)
Zero Film GmbH

Distributed by| Koch Lorber Films

Release date

* 1999 (1999)

Running time

| 108 minutes
Country| Russia
Language| German

Moloch (Russian: Молох) is a 1999 Russian biographical film, directed by Alexander Sokurov. The storyline was conceived from a screenplay written by Yuri Arabov and Marina Koreneva. It portrays Adolf Hitler living life in an unassuming manner during an abrupt journey to the Bavarian Alps. The film stars actors Leonid Mozgovoy, Yelena Rufanova, Vladimir Bogdanov, and Leonid Sokol in principal roles. Moloch explores companionship, intimacy and dictatorship.[1]

A joint collective effort to commit to the film's production was made by a number of studios, including Arte, Fabrica, Fusion Product, Goskino and Lenfilm Studio. It was commercially distributed by Koch Lorber Films. Following its release, the film was entered into the 1999 Cannes Film Festival and won other awards selections, including those from the Russian Guild of Film Critics Awards. The film was also selected as the Russian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 72nd Academy Awards, but it didn't make the final shortlist. It was generally met with mixed critical reviews before its initial screening in 1999.

## Plot

[edit]

In the spring of 1942, a few months before the notorious Battle of Stalingrad, Adolf Hitler (Leonid Mozgovoy) retires to his secluded Berghof Retreat, on a remote hilltop of the Bavarian Alps, near Berchtesgaden in Bavaria, to unite with his long-time female companion Eva Braun (Yelena Rufanova). At the residence, Braun spends her spare time with trivial pursuits such as whimsically dancing in the nude, humming to military-style marching band music, and rummaging through Hitler's personal belongings. Later, Braun is thrilled to learn that her beloved "Adi", as she affectionately calls him, will be joining her for a visit. Hitler is accompanied by guests Joseph Goebbels (Leonid Sokol), Magda Goebbels (Yelena Spiridonova), Martin Bormann (Vladimir Bogdanov), and a priest (Anatoli Shvedersky) for conversation and playful banter.[1]

During his stop-over, Hitler raves and rants on topics ranging from food, health, and climate change to wartime politics. After roaming through the mountainous landscape, Hitler is triumphant upon hearing of Germany's military victories. In a scene of political satire, he claims to have never heard of the Auschwitz concentration camp. Towards the end of Hitler's visit, Braun reminds him that no one can escape death or is infallible in an attempt to expose a hidden weakness within him as he embarks with his motorcade to continue Nazi Germany's military campaign.[1]

## Cast

[edit]

* Leonid Mozgovoy as Adolf Hitler
* Yelena Rufanova as Eva Braun
* Vladimir Bogdanov as Martin Bormann
* Leonid Sokol as Joseph Goebbels
* Yelena Spiridonova as Magda Goebbels
* Anatoli Shvedersky as the Priest

## Production

[edit]

### Filming

[edit]

Directed by Russian filmmaker Alexander Sokurov, the film is the first in Sokurov's tetralogy of power. It was succeeded by Taurus (2000), about Vladimir Lenin, The Sun (2005), involving Japanese emperor Hirohito, and Faust (2011), based on the old German legend Faust. For production, Sokurov employed Russian actors from Saint Petersburg to shoot Moloch, but their voices were later dubbed by German theater actors from Berlin.[2]

## Reception

[edit]

### Critical response

[edit]

Critical reaction to the film was mixed. Among reviews, Derek Elley of Variety noted, "There are no new revelations in this portrayal of an arrogant madman and his sycophants, and though impressive at first, Sokurov's glacial treatment, with its deliberately soft-focus look, pales after a while."[3] More enthusiastically, Jim Hoberman of The Village Voice wrote, "Moloch is lurid without being commercial. Evoking the German romantic landscape he synthesized for Mother and Son, Sokurov places his characteristic understatement at the service of borderline kitsch."[4] Likewise, Jason Anderson of Eye Weekly gave the film a five-star rating, commenting, "Though he hopes to extract the man from the mythology, he doesn't merely humanize a figure in any conventional sense, as Downfall did to Hitler with troubling results."[5]

### Accolades

[edit]

The film won four awards at the 1999 Russian Guild of Film Critics Awards, including; Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Cinematography and Best Script. At the 1999 Cannes Film Festival, the film won the Best Screenplay Award.[6] It was also chosen as Russia's official Best Foreign Language Film submission at the 72nd Academy Awards, but did not manage to receive a nomination.

## See also

[edit]

* List of submissions to the 72nd Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
* List of Russian submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c Sokurov, Alexander (Director). (1999). Moloch [Motion picture]. United States: Koch Lorber Films.
2. ^ Plot Notes Allmovie. Retrieved 2010-12-21.
3. ^ Elley, Derek (31 May 1999). Period Drama. Variety. Retrieved 2010-12-21.
4. ^ Hoberman, Jim (7 December 1999). History Repeating. The Village Voice. Retrieved 2010-12-21.
5. ^ Anderson, Jason (9 February 2006). THE SUN[permanent dead link]. Eye Weekly. Retrieved 2010-12-21.
6. ^ "Festival de Cannes: Moloch". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 2010-12-21.

## External links

[edit]

* Official Website[usurped]
* Moloch at IMDb
* Moloch at Rotten Tomatoes

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Alexander Sokurov

Fiction films|

* The Degraded
* Empire
* The Lonely Voice of Man
* Mournful Unconcern
* Days of Eclipse
* Save and Protect
* The Second Circle
* Stone
* Whispering Pages
* Mother and Son
* Moloch
* Taurus
* Russian Ark
* Father and Son
* The Sun
* Alexandra
* Faust
* Two Brothers and a Sister
* Fairytale

Documentaries|

* Sonata for Viola. Dmitri Shostakovitch
* Elegy
* And Nothing More
* Evening Sacrifice
* Patience of Labour
* Maria
* Moscow Elegy
* Sonata for Hitler
* Petersburg Elegy
* Soviet Elegy
* To The Events In Transcaucasia
* A Simple Elegy
* A Retrospection of Leningrad
* An Example of Intonation
* Elegy from Russia
* Soldier's Dream
* Spiritual Voices
* Oriental Elegy
* Hubert Robert. A Fortunate Life
* A Humble Life
* The St. Petersburg Diary: Inauguration of a monument to Dostoevsky
* The St. Petersburg Diary: Kosintsev's Flat
* Confession
* The Dialogues with Solzhenitsyn
* dolce...
* Elegy of a Voyage
* The St. Petersburg Diary: Mozart. Requiem
* Elegy of a life: Rostropovich, Vishnevskaya
* Francofonia
* Director's Diary

* v
* t
* e

Russian submission for Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film

* Close to Eden (1992)
* Burnt by the Sun (1994)
* A Moslem (1995)
* Prisoner of the Mountains (1996)
* The Thief (1997)
* The Barber of Siberia (1998)
* Moloch (1999)
* His Wife's Diary (2000)
* The Romanovs: An Imperial Family (2001)
* House of Fools (2002)
* The Return (2003)
* Night Watch (2004)
* The Italian (2005)
* The 9th Company (2006)
* 12 (2007)
* Mermaid (2008)
* Ward No. 6 (2009)
* The Edge (2010)
* Burnt by the Sun 2 (2011)
* White Tiger (2012)
* Stalingrad (2013)
* Leviathan (2014)
* Sunstroke (2015)
* Paradise (2016)
* Loveless (2017)
* Sobibor (2018)
* Beanpole (2019)
* Dear Comrades! (2020)
* Unclenching the Fists (2021)

* v
* t
* e

Adolf Hitler

Politics|

* Führer
* Führerprinzip
* Political views
* Political directives
* List
* Speeches
* Prophecy
* Mein Kampf
* in Arabic
* in English
* Zweites Buch
* Last will and testament
* Books
* Nazism

Events|

* Military career
* Rise to power
* Hitler cabinet
* Nazi Germany
* World War II
* The Holocaust
* Assassination attempts
* Death
* conspiracy theories

Places of
residence|

| Führer Headquarters|

* Berghof (Kehlsteinhaus)
* Reich Chancellery (Führerbunker / Vorbunker)
* Adlerhorst
* Anlage Süd
* Felsennest
* Tannenberg
* Werwolf
* Wolf's Lair
* Wolfsschlucht I
* Wolfsschlucht II
* Special train (Führersonderzug)

|

Civilian residences|

* Braunau am Inn
* Linz
* Vienna (Meldemannstraße dormitory)
* Munich (16 Prinzregentenplatz)
* Obersalzberg (Kampfhäusl)

Personal life|

* Health
* possible monorchism
* Wealth and income
* Religious views
* Sexuality
* Vegetarianism
* Staff
* Bodyguard
* August Kubizek
* Stefanie Rabatsch
* Reinhold Hanisch
* Psychopathography
* Hitler's Table Talk
* Paintings
* 50th birthday
* German naturalization

Personal
belongings|

* Hitler's Globe
* Private library

Perceptions|

* Books
* Cult of personality
* In popular culture
* Killing baby Hitler
* The Victory of Faith
* Triumph of the Will
* Hitler: The Last Ten Days
* The Meaning of Hitler
* Hitler Diaries
* Moloch
* Hitler: The Rise of Evil
* Downfall
* Shigeru Mizuki's Hitler
* Apocalypse: Hitler

Family|

* Eva Braun (wife)
* Alois Hitler (father)
* Klara Hitler (mother)
* Johann Georg Hiedler (grandfather)
* Maria Schicklgruber (grandmother)
* Angela Hitler (half-sister)
* Paula Hitler (sister)
* Leo Rudolf Raubal Jr. (half-nephew)
* Geli Raubal (half-niece)
* William Stuart-Houston (half-nephew)
* Heinz Hitler (half-nephew)
* Jean-Marie Loret (possible illegitimate son)
* Blondi (dog)

Other|

* Streets named after Hitler
* Mannerheim recording

* Category

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