The Island

2006 1h 52m RU

👍

7.0

SOLID

🍅

63%

FRESH

⭐

7.8

IMDB

★7.0TMDB · 173🍅63%Rotten Tomatoes★7.8IMDB · 12,704

DramaComedy

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Somewhere in Northern Russia in a small Russian Orthodox monastery lives an unusual man whose bizarre conduct confuses his fellow monks, while others who visit the island believe that the man has the power to heal, exorcise demons and foretell the future.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

WhatsApp X Facebook Telegram

Where to watch · US

Amazon VideoRent

Amazon VideoBuy

Cast

Pyotr Mamonov
Father Anatoli
Viktor Sukhorukov
Father Filaret
Yuriy Kuznetsov
Tikhon Petrovich, admiral
Dmitriy Dyuzhev
Father Iov
Viktoriya Isakova
Nastya
Aleksey Zelensky
young Tikhon
Timofey Tribuntsev
young Anatoli
Nina Usatova
widow

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Pavel Lungin
Writers: Pavel Lungin, Dmitry Sobolev
Languages: Russian
Countries: Russia

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 5

ERA

Did you know

Released 20 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 5

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Pavel Lungin, shot by Andrei Zhegalov. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 5

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Albina Antipenko shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 5

CAST

Did you know

Pyotr Mamonov and Viktor Sukhorukov and Yuriy Kuznetsov carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 5

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0851577 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Pavel Lungin directs. Andrei Zhegalov behind the camera. Albina Antipenko cuts. Produced in Russia. Dialogue in Russian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 20 years ago.
2Directed by Pavel Lungin, shot by Andrei Zhegalov. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Editor Albina Antipenko shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
4Pyotr Mamonov and Viktor Sukhorukov and Yuriy Kuznetsov carry the top of the cast.
5IMDB entry: tt0851577 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
6Classified under 10 themes, including "monk", "miracle", "russian orthodox church", "saint".

The technical file

Cinematography: Andrei Zhegalov
Editing: Albina Antipenko
Production design: Igor Kotsarev
Costume design: Ekaterina Dyminskaya
Makeup / hair: Valeriya Nikulina
Stunt coordinator: Aleksey Silkin
Runtime: 112 min · 1h 52m
Status: Released
Box office: $3,557,508
Original language: RU
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: The Island (2006)
Rotten Tomatoes: 63% 🍅 Fresh
IMDB rating: 7.8/10 · 12,704 votes
MPAA: PG-13

Awards

16 wins & 13 nominations

Nika award for the best cinematography
Nika Award for Best Picture
Golden Eagle Award for Best Motion Picture

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Pavel Lungin

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

CRCulver2018-09-05
★ 5/10
The 2006 film Ostrov (The Island) is a story of religious faith in the bleak Russian north. As the film opens, it is 1942 and the young Russian sailor Anatoly is forced by the Germans to shoot his captain Tikhon. Left for dead, Anatoly washes up on the shore of an island where a monastery is located. He spends the next three decades among the monks trying to atone for the killing of his friend and shipmate. Eventually, though he considers himself the lowest of the low, Anatoly is granted clairvoyance and the ability to work miracles. A steady stream of visitors comes to the island to seek his help. But Anatoly is a certain kind of saint specific to the Russian tradition, the holy fool. He does things that make no sense to his fellow monks, to the point they think he's insane, but eventually everything he does is revealed to communicate some key spiritual point. Between ministering to the outsiders who visit him and dealing with his exasperated brethren, Anatoly gets no rest. The film is beautiful in a way. The plot is engaging enough, and for audiences outside Russia (as well as many Russians who grew up under Communism) this is an informative presentation of the realities of Orthodox monastic life. The makeup effects are excellent -- Pyotr Mamonov doesn't look this decrepit in real-life, but on the screen he really is convincing as a starets who has spent decades in an unforgiving environment. Nonetheless, I found Ostrov rather too heavy-handed, seeming at best sappy and at worst outright propaganda for a certain kind of contemporary Russian Orthodoxy that doesn't represent the faith entirely well. When one thinks of Russian Orthodoxy in cinema, one is tempted to draw comparisons with Andrei Tarkovsky, but even when Tarkovsky wasn't directly using Orthodox themes, he still communicated Christian truths more powerfully than anything in this film (think of the climax of Tarkovsky's Stalker or the ending of Offret). Thus, all in all, Ostrov is entertaining but not terribly deep.
pancine2019-02-10
★ 7/10
Beautiful,bleak location. Excellent cinematography and direction highlights this story of guilt and redemption. Some find it in helping others selflessly. Or devotion to one's higher power. The prayer scenes may have been a bit too long or frequent but overall a good film,story and visual feast.