One of the most acclaimed films of last year, Silent Souls (Ovsyanki) is a breathtakingly beautiful road-movie masterpiece. After the sudden death of his wife, tough guy Miron asks taciturn writer Aist to accompany him on ... more »a long journey to dispose of her remains according to the rituals of the Merya people-an ancient tribe from picturesque West-Central Russia. As the two friends traverse the evocatively bleak landscape with her body and a pair of caged birds, Miron fills the hours relating the most intimate details of his marriage-with unintended consequences. Brooding, poetic and provocative, Silent Souls is an exquisite work of post-Soviet cinema by director Aleksei Fedorchenko and renowned cinematographer Mikhail Krichman (Elena).« less