What it’s about
In an isolated, rustic home, an unnamed son (Ananishnov) cares for his ailing, slowly fading mother (Geyer) with the intensity and attentiveness of a lover. One night, they have the same dream, in which he carries her outside, into the wild outdoors, preparing the path for their eventual separation…
Why we love it
Sokurov’s dreamlike, elegiac chamber drama has just the barest of narratives — a son ministers to his terminally ill mother in the countryside — but remains irresistibly hypnotic nevertheless. Bathed in the honeyed tones of twilight, “Mother and Son” is a gleaming, poetically nuanced masterwork of light and sound design. Nothing in this wondrous, plaintive world seems out of place. The intimate bond between Ananishnov and Geyer is so palpable, so deeply felt, that nothing will shake its memory.