This movie features some really impressive cinematography, with distinctive long single shots without edits often for several minutes. Excellent acting from all the key players, and especially the lead. The plot for me though really let this down and it lost my attention badly by the halfway point. I was left with the feeling there was a lot going on (constant background television talk, references to the Russian Orthodox Church) that went over my head.
There may well have been a moral/political subplot here that eastern European viewers would pick up immediately, but I just couldn't grasp it.
There may well have been a moral/political subplot here that eastern European viewers would pick up immediately, but I just couldn't grasp it.