Save and Protect
Synopsis
Inspired by Flaubertâs Madame Bovary, Sokurovâs Save and Protect recalls the most crucial events of Emmaâs decline and fall: affairs with the aristocratic Rodolphe and the student Leon, the humiliation that follows her husbandâs botching of the operation on the stable boyâs clubfoot. The universality of the theme of eternal struggle between the soul and the flesh is conveyed through the absence of specific reference to time or place: although the film seems to begin in 1840, its surreal mode effortlessly accommodates an automobile and the strains of âWhen the Saints Go Marching Inâ on an off-screen radio. Focusing on passion from a womanâs perspective and downplaying plot, Sokurov explores his subject in exquisite detail, capturing not only the heat of passion but also the quiet moments before and after and the innocent sensuousness of the body.
Where to watch
Not currently available to stream in United States.
