“In Meryan-populated Russia, roadtrips take you.”
A surreal, dream-like and poignant exploration of the ritual of loss, Aleksei Fedorchenko’s Silent Souls narrative film plays out like a series of odd, vaguely disconnected vignettes; snapshots of different generations and lovers dealing with grief and bereavement. These moments are narrated by Aist (Igor Sergeev), a middle-aged man accompanying his boss Miron (Yuriy Tsurilo) on a quest to bury his wife Tanya (Yuliya Aug), who has died suddenly of unknown causes. Self-identified descendants of the Meryan tribe, the two men’s adherence to ancient traditions dictate the tone and trail of their journey.
The history of the Meryan tribe is never explained in full, strangely adding to the strength of Fedorchenko’s vision. Simultaneously primitive and moving, rituals such as attaching colourful ribbons to the pubic hair of blushing brides, or the burning of Tanya’s corpse on a pyre are so foreign and out of step with the modern world that the emotion of the piece is heightened. Just as the men refer to overly-intimate conversations about deceased loved ones as “smoke”, it becomes clear that these rituals are just a screen for something else; a desire to feel connected. To their history, deceased loved ones, each other – when your original tribe is all but extinct, a sense of origin and final destination become more important than ever.
Shot with stunning yet subtle flair, Fedorchenko’s use of the striking landscape and long, silent shots brings a striking stillness to the piece, punctuated by the actor’s straight-to-camera shots and the soothing narration. The combination of visuals and oft-repeated phrases like, “Only love has no end” bring a poetic quality to the dreamlike world. “My father was a Meryan self-taught poet” Aist muses, as a flashback shows his parent breaking a hole through the icy covering of a lake before slowly dropping his typewriter into the freezing water. “A Meryan self-taught poet.” Fedorchenko could be talking about himself.