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Moscow, September 1990. At that time, still the capital of the Soviet empire. A capital city with only one Chinese restaurant, as the narrator complains. No wonder that the empire collapsed two years later. Ken Kobland has a flair for the convulsions of a fossilized regime. For example, he documented the last winter of divided Berlin in 'Berlin/Nilreb, a tourist journal' (1988), in which he particularly showed interest in the architecture. This time he shows the citizens of Moscow. The Muscovites are followed in the market, during a protest rally, even in the Metro. Kobland shows a trip through the Moscow underground in its entirety so that the every day aggression to which the travellers are victim is presented as something matter of fact. The incidental texts, from widely differing sources (from the Realistic Manifesto to Tarkovski), cause reflection and the tragic music of Arvo-Pärt underscores the melancholic atmoshpere. And yet, 'Moscow X' is not a pessimistic production. The hopeful image of Muscovites on a metro station being able to choose from a wide range of newspapers -automated pluriformity - precludes such a conclusion.
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André Nientied
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Translation: Natasha Filatova, Mirek Nissenbaum, Camera: Nancy Campbell, Ken Kobland, Music: Arvo Pärt, With thanks to: E.Jay Sims, Production: Ken Kobland
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