The Second Circle

Play trailer

The Second Circle

Released Sep 11, 1990

1h 32m

Drama

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

Tomatometer

4 Reviews

70%

Popcornmeter

100+ Ratings

When his father dies, an unnamed Russian man (Piotr Alexandrov) returns to his remote Siberian village to bury him. As he goes through the solitary and difficult process of making funeral arrangements and cleaning his father's body, he confronts the increasingly apathetic and materialistic nature of society, as a busy undertaker urges him to cremate his father instead of burying him. While the young man explores society's cold treatment of mortality, he also struggles with his grief.

Fernando F. Croce

Slant Magazine

The Second Circle is awash in the pain of loss, yet how often grim comedy breaks through the austere surface.

Rated: 4/4

Apr 3, 2006

Full Review

Susan Sontag

Artforum

There’s no director active today whose films I admire as much [as Aleksandr Sokurov].

May 2, 2024

Full Review

Jeffrey M. Anderson

Combustible Celluloid

The brownish, monochrome color scheme lacks the transcendent beauty of Sokurov's later films, and it can be tough going, but it also has the mark of a master.

Jun 9, 2006

Full Review

Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

This relentless meditation on the death of one's father also serves as a metaphor for the spiritual debasement of modern Russia.

Rated: A

Oct 25, 2005

Full Review

Read all reviews

Audience Member

The greatest 01 hour: and 32 minutes ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/11/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A particularly dull, crude example of the post-Soviet, post-secular, reactionary, inhuman, anti-social cinema of Sokurov.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/24/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Russian man returns home to care for his fathers remains. Somewhat slow atmospheric movie that makes funeral arrangements extra creepy.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/10/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Sokurov is a master of visuals, following in Tarkovsky's footsteps. With beautiful cinematography, rich in symbolism, "The Second Circle" is a wonderful metaphor to Russia on the aftermath of its 70-year old dying communism. The son (young generation) needs to bury his deceased father (the communist era) but has no guidance, religion was oppressed, the government institutions are but old replicas of the communist era. How to do it, where to go from here, what was the relationship between the son and his father. Simple and beautiful.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/01/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Stunning austere stark image completed by intriguing camera angles. Sokurov always finds a way to avoid drama (the story itself easily becomes the premise of some untasteful drama) and stick to what's real, yet still can give you intensity.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/18/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Static, numbing, morose and brilliant. May be the single most depressing film I've ever seen: an almost impossible amalgam of Dostoevsky and Samuel Beckett. Most folks will hate it and walk out: I was mesmerized. That doesn't make me better than other folks - just ... different, I guess. No harm there.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/28/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Aleksandr Sokurov

Director

Piotr Alexandrov

Actor

Yuriy Arabov

Writer

Otmar Nussio

Original Music

Andrei Burov

Cinematographer

Raisa Lisova

Film Editing

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

View more photos

Synopsis

When his father dies, an unnamed Russian man (Piotr Alexandrov) returns to his remote Siberian village to bury him. As he goes through the solitary and difficult process of making funeral arrangements and cleaning his father's body, he confronts the increasingly apathetic and materialistic nature of society, as a busy undertaker urges him to cremate his father instead of burying him. While the young man explores society's cold treatment of mortality, he also struggles with his grief.

Director: Aleksandr Sokurov
Screenwriter: Yuriy Arabov
Distributor: International Film Circuit [us]
Production Co: Studio Troitskij Most
Genre: Drama
Original Language: Russian
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 11, 1990, Original
Release Date (DVD): Jun 11, 2007
Runtime: 1h 32m