Sotnikov Andrei Sokolov's Allegory In Destiny Of A Man

Christian imagery and allegory are remarkably prevalent in many soviet films. This is reflective of the Russian Orthodox Church’s ineradicable position in Russian culture as well as the applicability – the universal nature - of the biblical story. Paradoxically, this phenomenon directly contradicts the idealized atheism of the soviet state. In this paper I will explore the different ways four of the thirteen films we have watched this semester incorporate Christianity. The most obvious elusion to Christianity is the allegory of Christ. This is a powerful cinematic choice in which characters, through personal attributes or general events, take on the significance of Christ, giving the film greater meaning. In the films we have watched, Sotnikov …show more content…
His status as an allegorical character is more complex than Sotnikov or Ivan’s because his story does not mirror the life of Christ in such an obvious way. Sokolov takes on the role of Jesus, the son, and God, the father, at different moments in the film. While he is a prisoner, Sokolov is Jesus, questioning his destiny and then destiny of men. Two scenes clearly illustrate this. The first scene is Sokolov escape. He runs to a wheat field and lies down in in a crucified position, looking up at the sky and at whatever god might be looking down upon him. The viewer knows that God is looking down on Sokolov because the perspective changes to a bird’s eye view, God’s view, of Sokolov lost in the sea of wheat. The second scene is a more obvious illusion to Christ. While in a Nazi work camp Sokolov is sentenced to execution by shooting. He is called into the camp leader’s office where the German officers are celebrating the false news of Stalingrad’s fall. Their meal, which is doomed, is reminiscent of the last supper. Sokolov awes the German commander with his ability to drink vodka on an empty stomach. Here, the vodka cup represents the holy chalice, the cup used at the last supper to serve wine. The commander spares Sokolov’s life and gives him a loaf of bread and some cheese. Sokolov returns to the barracks where, before collapsing, he commands that everyone gets an equal. The prisoners careful ‘breaking of the bread’ they are allotted represents communion. After the war Sokolov becomes God, the father. After all his suffering he adopts a young boy, just as God’s relationship with humanity becomes more intimate through Jesus’s suffering. Sokolov tells the young boy that he is the father, which gives the young boy’s world meaning