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Save and Protect

Save and Protect

1989

Director

Aleksandr Sokurov

Runtime

168 minutes

Average Rating

No ratings yet

Synopsis

Inspired by Flaubert’s Madame Bovary, Sokurov’s Save and Protect recalls the most crucial events of Emma’s decline and fall: affairs with the aristocratic Rodolphe and the student Leon, the humiliation that follows her husband’s botching of the operation on the stable boy’s 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 “When the Saints Go Marching In” on an off-screen radio. Focusing on passion from a woman’s 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.

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Diversity & Representation

Overall Score

5.8/10

Fair

Category Breakdown

LGBTQ+ Representation

Fair

The film explores sexual agency through Emma's extramarital affairs and infidelity. However, the narrative remains within a heteronormative framework without explicit LGBTQ+ identities.

Gender Representation

Good

The story centers entirely on a woman's perspective and internal emotional landscape. It subverts patriarchal hierarchies by prioritizing Emma's desires over the male figures in her life.

Racial & Ethnic Diversity

Limited

The film lacks evidence of a diverse or non-Anglo-Saxon majority cast. The focus remains on the psychological details of characters rooted in a French literary reimagining.

Religious & Cultural Diversity

Excellent

A surrealist blending of eras challenges historical and religious rigidity. The film prioritizes individual existentialist experience over institutional dogma or singular moral condemnation.

Disability Representation

Fair

A character with a clubfoot serves as a significant narrative catalyst. While the condition drives a moment of humiliation, it is integrated into the broader character struggles.

Strengths

  • Strong subversion of gender hierarchies by centering the female perspective.
  • Effective use of surrealism to challenge historical and religious rigidity.
  • Exploration of complex, subjective morality and individual agency.

Areas for Improvement

  • Lack of racial and ethnic diversity within the character ensemble.
  • Absence of explicit LGBTQ+ identities or non-heteronormative expressions.
  • Limited depth in the representation of disability beyond its plot function.

AI Analysis

Sokurov’s adaptation of Flaubert’s classic succeeds in shifting the narrative power toward the female experience. By centering Emma's passions and internal decline, the film deconstructs traditional gender roles and patriarchal competence. The film's strength lies in its cultural and moral subversion. The surrealist use of anachronisms, like jazz and automobiles, critiques historical rigidity and favors a secular, subjective morality over religious dogma. However, the film lacks significant racial intersectionality and explicit LGBTQ+ representation. The narrative remains largely focused on a heteronormative, period-adjacent reimagining of a classic European story.

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