Ştefan RUSU

film-video / video

Lazo

Mini DV transferred to DVD, 8’20”, 2005
Camera: Ruben Agadjanean
Image editor: Denis Bartenev
Directed by Stefan Rusu

Synopsis
The film explores how the image of Serghei Lazo was used in the construction of the Moldavian identity during soviet era. According to the legend the Japanese army burned Lazo alive in the oven of a locomotive. Being a revolutionary and guerilla fighter for the cause of the revolution in the Far East region his heroic aura becomes later a burning symbol for the builders of socialism all over USSR. The famous film director Andrei Tarkovski had a substantial contribution in the perpetuating of myth in “Serghei Lazo” feature film. The Moldova Film studios have hired Tarkovsky as Artistic Producer of the “Serghei Lazo” feature film. He was not only the one who conceived the final and the cruelest scene of the movie when Lazo was burned alive but also played as actor who executed Lazo. Seen again today, the scene looks like a DADA style scenario in which A.Tarkovsky kills the hero.
The exploration of constructed myths and legends ends with the appropriation of fairy-tales that overturn the meanings of good and evil and by replacing the reality with fiction. The film was produced in the frame of AlteArte TV Project, technical support-[KSAK] Center for Contemporary Art, Chisinau.