Editing, acting, lighting, pacing, they're all very good. The mix of genres makes me wonder. That something funny if not farcical is mixed in with the tragedy of WWII doesn't sit well with me, although I know that some will say that it is the crux. The best part of the movie was perhaps the introduction, the Oh, Yeah part. The scene wherein the two deserters come upon the mass execution has a beautifully grim and nightmarishly terrifying aspect. The whole movie has something of a bad dream, not in the least because of the seemingly realistic scenes which never could have happened and the use of black and white scenes that convey a sense that we have to do with a documentary. Surely, the director is, as Ingmar Bergman said, the magician, and if so, if the audience is being set up, it's only part of the show.
Review of Seven Beauties
