This is the sort of movie that will do well at film festivals and with
certain critics but for me it's all a bit too familiar, though there is
simply no denying that this still remains a very well made movie.
Kind of funny but while watching this movie it kept reminding me of a
different Russian movie that I had seen; "Vozvrashchenie". I only found
out later that the movie indeed had been directed by the same director;
Andrei Zvyagintsev. So he obviously is a person with a very strong and
distinctive style but yet I wasn't as intrigued with this movie as I
was was with "Vozvrashchenie".
It's a movie that shows how one event can change everything in a
family. That is good all but it's not exactly something that has never
been done in any movie before. I did wish that the movie would had done
some more interesting stuff at times with its story and characters but
it instead makes the choice to be a simplistic and straightforward as
possible, which adds to the realism perhaps but not to the originality
and it doesn't make this the most interesting or effective genre
example either.
The movie definitely takes the time to setup things but it feels a bit
pointless at times. Really, the movie too often is showing you
absolutely nothing and some sequences are needlessly long. The movie
wants you to fill in things for yourself mostly and doesn't just lay
out everything. It's the reason why the movie also often has no dialog
at all in it. The first part and the final part of the movie is like
this. It seemed like things were developing- and starting to get
interesting in the middle but it doesn't ever push through.
Still I can't be very negative toward this movie. It's obviously a
superior made movie, that is beautiful looking as well, with its
cinematography, that helps to set up a nice mood for the movie. Also
nothing wrong with its storytelling. I mean, it does what it does well,
even though it just isn't my cup of tea and it really isn't the best,
most original, or intriguing example of the genre that I have ever
seen. It's great to watch still, if you are into these type of movies.
A really good movie, you can still real easily do without though and is
hardly the best that the genre currently has to offer.
7/10
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