Buried under the mountain of clichés that typically entail a war film (although perhaps not so pronounced for the era), Fate of a Man is a genuinely emotional, well crafted movie that deftly handles the subjects of loss and resolve. What differentiates Bondarchuk's film from the litany of uninspired works, from any nationality, is the prowess with which he employs said mountain of clichés not just as a device to prop the plot upon, but instead as a means to explore the depths of the human trauma that results from war.
Under the relative creative freedom the "Thaw" provided, Bondarchuk's work is highly subjective and seemingly draws influence from Italian neorealism. Sokolov is a man who lived contentedly, before the war took everything from him. The story is divulged from his first person account, intimately executed through voice over. Each shot is visual progression in his emotional journey. The neorealist value of characters' space and their movement through it realizes this sense of progression. To cite an example, we simply have to look at buildings and characters' relation to them. Solokov meets his wife constructing a home. Prewar life is warmly attached to these buildings (homes and factories), a sense of fulfillment and love residing within. Returning home after the war we see shots of lumbering skeletons of bombed out factories, everyday life stripped of the flesh that once gave it meaning. This sequence culminates in Sokolov's discovery of the crater where his family home once was. Attention to small details such as a bed frame sticking out of the puddle of water in the crater make it especially heart wrenching. Speaking more specifically about physically inhabiting a space, there are a couple of striking shots. One example is in the scene where the Nazi's call out men from a line for execution. After the doctor who helps Sokolov is removed from his place in the line, the camera lingers on the empty space where he once was for several seconds. It's small moments like these that make the audience really internalize the sense of loss rather than just sigh a quick mandatory, "Awww."
There are moments in the film where the melodrama reaches distasteful limits, along with some poorly conceptualized and executed editing (ex. Water on the lens to fade in and out of early flashbacks). However, Fate of a Man is a special film, improperly served in this brief review.
Under the relative creative freedom the "Thaw" provided, Bondarchuk's work is highly subjective and seemingly draws influence from Italian neorealism. Sokolov is a man who lived contentedly, before the war took everything from him. The story is divulged from his first person account, intimately executed through voice over. Each shot is visual progression in his emotional journey. The neorealist value of characters' space and their movement through it realizes this sense of progression. To cite an example, we simply have to look at buildings and characters' relation to them. Solokov meets his wife constructing a home. Prewar life is warmly attached to these buildings (homes and factories), a sense of fulfillment and love residing within. Returning home after the war we see shots of lumbering skeletons of bombed out factories, everyday life stripped of the flesh that once gave it meaning. This sequence culminates in Sokolov's discovery of the crater where his family home once was. Attention to small details such as a bed frame sticking out of the puddle of water in the crater make it especially heart wrenching. Speaking more specifically about physically inhabiting a space, there are a couple of striking shots. One example is in the scene where the Nazi's call out men from a line for execution. After the doctor who helps Sokolov is removed from his place in the line, the camera lingers on the empty space where he once was for several seconds. It's small moments like these that make the audience really internalize the sense of loss rather than just sigh a quick mandatory, "Awww."
There are moments in the film where the melodrama reaches distasteful limits, along with some poorly conceptualized and executed editing (ex. Water on the lens to fade in and out of early flashbacks). However, Fate of a Man is a special film, improperly served in this brief review.