Vestnik VGIK I Journal of Film Arts and Film StudiesVestnik VGIK I Journal of Film Arts and Film Studies2074-08322713-2471Eco-vector1458110.17816/VGIK10462-68Research ArticleTransformation of the Archaic Myth and the Discourse of Power in Alexander Sokurov’s “Moloch”VinogradovVladimir V<p>Doctor of Arts, Assistant Professor, Department of Cinema Studies</p>editor@vestnik-vgik.comS.A.Gerasimov Russian Federation State Institute of Cinematography15122018104626801072019Copyright © 2018, Vinogradov V.V.2018<p style="text-align: justify;">The essay analyses the transformation of the myth in the workof Alexander Sokurov, specifically in his biographical drama Moloch. Theauthor explores the mythology of the mountain in German culture, relating itto the neo-mythology constructed in Sokurovs film. The focus of the essay is theimage of Kehlsteinhaus as the embodiment of the mythological Asgard, whichis assigned to the future. Most important components of the phenomenon ofNazism mythological dreams of the Thousand-Year Reich, the Kingdom ofthe righteous are born here. According to the author, we see again a variationon Sokurovs main theme of mans loneliness and orphanhood. However, thistheme is revealed in Moloch in an unexpected manner: the consciousness ofthe unfortunate, for whom Sokurov usually feels compassion, becomes a fertileground for Nazism. This is a starting point for transforming Yuri Arabovsscreenplay Mystery of the Mountain into Alexander Sokurovs film Moloch.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Pagan Moloch becomes the central image of the new Nazi mythology (asinterpreted by Sokurov). The essays author analyzes three incarnations of thisimage. One is Adolf Hitler himself, the most unfortunate person who, at thesame time, is happy with his own misfortune and who takes within the mountainworld the position of Wotan, demanding more and more victims. In Sokurovsfilm, Hitler is a miserable and whimsical God, possessed by many phobias. Thesecond incarnation of the Godhead is ideological: the idea of a great Germany, aThousand-Year Reich to which millions are sacrificed, including the inhabitantsof heaven themselves. At the heart of this idea is the ancient harmony talkedabout by Hitler: a rational and harmonious world that requires the destructionof everything not corresponding to its nature. Only such purified, cold beautyand perfection, coupled with the ethical qualities of the Supreme Being, have theright to existence. The Third incarnation is entropy, Molochs main hypostasis.Sokurov shows it primarily in the form of phobias which bring about death andare the starting points for the creation of the coldest of harmonies.</p>cinemaSokurovMolochWagnermythentropyкиноСокуровМолохВагнермифэнтропия[Zontag S. Magicheskij fashizm [Fascinating Fascism] // Mysl' kakstrast'. — M.: Russkoe fenomenologicheskoe obshchestvo, 1997. — 208 p.][Sokurov A. Vstuplenie k publikacii kinoscenariya Uriya Arabova [Introduction to the publication of the screenplay by Yuri Arabov] // Iskusstvo kino, № 5, 1999. — 175 p.][Filosofskij kommentarij k dramam Riharda Vagnera [Philosophical commentary on the drama of Richard Wagner] // A.F.Losev Forma. Stil'. Vyrazhenie. — M.: Mysl', 1995. — 940 p.]