Days of Eclipse


Days of Eclipse is a 1988 Soviet film directed by Aleksandr Sokurov. The screenplay is by Yuri Arabov and Pyotr Kadochnikov based on a screenplay by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, which is in turn based on their 1974 novel Definitely Maybe.

Plot

A recently qualified medical doctor, Dmitri Malyanov, has taken a posting to a remote and very poor part of Soviet Turkmenistan. On top of his day job as a pediatrician Malyanov is undertaking research into the effects of religious practice on human health. His research has drawn the politically incorrect conclusion that religious faith does indeed improve health. However, as he attempts to write up his thesis, various sorts of improbable, bizarre events take place one after another. Malyanov perceives that some force is preventing him from completing his research.

Production

In the novel, the protagonist who works on research in astrophysics is similarly confounded by a mysterious force trying to interfere and impede his research. Days of Eclipse is filmed using unusual cinematographic techniques in a half-documentary manner where black-and-white and sepia frames alternate with color. Sokurov chose for the film's location the town in Turkmenistan where he had spent his childhood as the son of an Army officer.

Cast

The film features a cast of non-professionals.