SVS: “Ostrov”

It’s Good Friday. A potentially-awkward day to be recommending a movie, yes. Especially because I’m planning to go film-free today, myself — as, I’m sure, are many of you. But it’s also a day with a surprising number of options. And a day when I can honestly say that I’ve benefited from a bit of visual meditation, in years past.

So, if you are inclined, Ostrov (the film that sparked my “critical career”) is currently streaming on NETFLIX INSTANT.

A tormented Russian Orthodox monk, purported to have the power to heal, see the future and exorcise demons, believes himself to be an unworthy fraud.

That trailer makes Lungen’s film look a bit like a thriller, and it’s not. Not really. It’s far more thoughtful — and a whole lot more challenging — than the trailer would suggest.

An alternative Good Friday film is the Carl Theodor Dreyer’s extraordinary The Passion of Joan of Arc, which is available on HULU PLUS, via the Criterion Collection. And The Mill and the Cross, an unusual, powerful, visually stunning film equally appropriate to the day, is also streaming on NETFLIX INSTANT.

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