REVIEWS 35I ArseniiTarkovskii,Vladimir Sokolov, Brodskii,AleksandrRevich, Iurii Kolker,histeacherAnisimKrongauzand, above all,Khodasevich), Evgenii Shvarts, Marc Chagall,and Pasternak's Doktor ^hivago. Basovskii's favourite writer is VladimirNabokov; otherpoets admiredincludeTiutchev,Blok, Akhmatova, Samoilovand Chukhontsev. Givenhistemperament and life'sexperience, Basovskii cannotbe a starryeyed optimist. Like Ecclesiastes, he perceivesthe Vanityof vanities'of all merely humanendeavour(see his talentedpoeticadaptationof thetextof Ecclesiastes,in Polnozvuchie, pp. 90-108). Yet Basovskii'sphilosophydoes notcountenance pessimism or despair.Illnessesand sadnessmaybesetthe autumnofhislife, memories ache and fade- yetthereisperpetual consolationin thelovingpresenceofhiswife, in their freechoiceofa sharedlifein Israel(rather thanslavery in the SovietUnion),and in themanymerciful blessings ofdivineprovidence. Andalwaysa blankpage awaits,on whichto compose'full-sounding' and truly Tree'verse.A thoughtful, unhurried poetmerits a thoughtful, unhurried reader, whether inJerusalem, Syktyvkar (Oboserà dukha i slova, p. 78),or even Bristol. Bristol Gordon MgVay Mazierska,Ewa and Rascaroli,Laura. Crossing NewEurope: Postmodern Travel andthe European RoadMovie.Wallflower Press,London and New York, 2006. vii + 245 pp. Illustrations. Notes. Bibliography. Index. £16.99 (paperback). Ewa Mazierska's and Laura Rascaroli'sbook,Crossing NewEurope: Postmodern Travel andthe European RoadMovie, does notdisappoint either in thechoiceof films theauthors addressor in therichtheoretical framework offilm studies, anthropology and sociology theyapplyin theirdiscussion ofthemostrecent Europeancinemas. Thiswell-researched andwell-designed monograph moves smoothly from earlyroad cinemain Europeand theUSA to films produced in Europein the1990sand 2000s. The book's authorsembrace contemporary filmand culturalstudies theories inan informative waythroughout their analyses. Theybeginwiththe debateoverthesimilarities and differences between Americanand European roadcinemas;theynotein theirIntroduction thatone oftheprimary differencesbetween thetwobodiesoffilm isthefactthatAmerican roadfilms deal withgeographical space differently thando Europeanones.Americanroad films delineate'open spaceswiththeirstraight, boundlesshighways and the sense of freedomand opportunity to reinvent one's life',whileEuropean films deal with'a mosaicofnations, cultures, languagesand roads,whichare separatedby geographic, politicaland economicboundariesand customs' (p.5). In fact,thisunderlying dichotomy orients thediscussion ofEuropean roadfilms in a highly convincing mannerand allowsforthepresentation of a fascinating arrayofthemostrecent films, whichdeal withdiverse cultures, 352 SEER, 87, 2, APRIL 200g nationsand languageswithin thenew,enlargedEurope,particularly in the context ofitspolitical and socialchangesofthepastthreedecades. The book consists of twosections:'Authorson theRoad' and 'Geographies '.In thefirst, theauthorsanalysefilms made by themostprominent Europeanroad filmauteurs, AkiKaurismaki, Eric Rohmer,Patrick Keiller, and WernerHerzog. The secondsectionis devotedto more recentfilms, analysedin the contextsof postmodern nomadism,the post-Communist diaspora,femalemobility and travelling to themargins ofEurope. One of the mostinnovative aspectsof the book is its analysisof Aki Kaurismaki's and WernerHerzog'sfilms as examplesofroad cinema.These twomodernist filmmakers have alwaysbeen portrayed bycritics as original, eveneccentric Europeanfilmmakers whorequireanalysis within a framework ofinternational debateson nationalcinemas.Herzogis considered a prominentmemberof New German cinema,Kaurismakian important maker ofFinnish cinema.Mazierskaand Rascaroliprove,however, thatbothfilmmakersrepresent thetradition ofroad cinemain highly innovative and selfreflexive ways;they argueconvincingly thatKaurismaki andHerzogjuxtapose twocontinents, EuropeandAmerica, intheir films' narration and inthemore subversive discourses ofaesthetics anddialogue - their films critically observe European expectations about Americans'and Europeans' disillusionment withthetwocontinents byironically defamiliarizing and denaturalizing both continents. In the book's secondsection,'Geographies',the authorsexaminesmall Europeancinemasthatareoften neglected incritical workon Europeanroad cinemas,suchas Polishand Dutchcinemas,as wellas manyfilms identified as 'non-mainstream', art-house, experimental, and authorial cinemas.These unique filmsuse the road 'to expressa national(or European)imaginary and space' (p.6) and represent manydifferent forms oftravel: displacement, diaspora, exile,migration, nomadism, homelessness, border-crossing, tourism, relocation,commuting,exploration,adventuring, pilgrimage,conquest, escape and flaneurism. With thisimpressive arrayof topicscovered,the authors contribute to a discussion oftherelatively recentsocialand cultural phenomenain Europeresulting from profound changesin thesocio-political landscapeofthecontinent in thepastthirty years. 'Geographies' is a fascinating collection ofessaysaboutthetruly newand previously unexaminedexamplesof theseyoungand refreshing European cinemas.The fouressaysthatcomprise thebook'slatter section, 'Postmodern Nomadism:EnforcedRootlessness and OppositionalMotion'; 'East Meets West:The Post-communist Diaspora'; 'WhenWomenHit theRoad: Images ofFemaleMobility in Postmodern Europe'; and 'Travelling to theMargins ofEurope'explorethesecinemasin detailand provideastuteexplanations of thefilms' political and socialmeanings. In their analyses ofGianniAurelio's, LaurentCantet's,Agnès Varda's and Nanni Moretti'sfilms,the authors explorethe phenomenaof enforcedand voluntary vagrancy;in Michael Haneke's and Pawel Pawlikowski's films, theyexplorethe new migratory movementsin Europe; in Carlo Mazzacurati's, Gianni Amelio's and ArmandoManni'sfilms, thefrontier withtheEast. reviews 353 Chapterseven,'WhenWomenHittheRoad', analyses another keyaspect ofconventional road cinema- namelyitstypically masculinecharacter and Mazierskaand Rascaroliarguethatthiscinemahas recently becomea more feminized phenomenon.Given the changesin Europe, theyassert, youngEuropeanwomenalsofindthemselves 'on theroad',bothliterally and metaphorically. In their discussion ofEasternEuropeanfilms, thosefrom the former Czechoslovakia and Poland,they seetravelling womentrying toestablishtheir ownpowerand autonomy on theroad,butpayinga highpricefor doingso...