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A Lot Of Effort To Watch This Film

Daniel G. Lebryk | 10/07/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This film took a lot of concentration to actually follow and enjoy, because the film is like a photo montage (the type of picture that is actually made up of thousands of little tiny pictures). There is an overarching story, but the director chose to tell that story with 5 or 6 individual stories, seemingly randomly cut into that one main story.

This is a dark film covering love, hate, boredom, loss, and frustration all set in a bleak landscape. The film opens with a man standing on a high-rise balcony. It's hard to tell if he is on the brink of jumping, just standing outside for fresh air, buffeted by the wind, or just cold. He steps back into the apartment and he has a fight with the black haired woman of the DVD cover art. He tries to strangle her. And then finally gives up without killing her. The film then cuts to another couple, but maintains the thread of this first scene. The film moves from subplot to subplot in a measured manner, so there is a rhythm and comfort that each subplot will have some kind of resolution to the conflict.

The striking thing about this film is the ambiguity. That opening scene, the fight, were the characters exactly who you think they are? Was the man being some horrible animal trying to kill the woman? Or were there other forces or other reasons that drove him to that point? I enjoyed watching each subplot, playing along with the director and then thinking more about what happened and why it did. The film is a fine intellectual exercise. In harsh contrast to a film that tries to do the same subplot juggling but fails so miserably, LOOK.

The film is not rated. It is a fairly explicit film. There is strong language in the subtitles. There is one scene with two women and a man filmed through a mirror. The director had no fear of showing the naked man walking erect toward the camera and then returning to his partner. The film is intended for mature audiences.

The DVD included only the movie. The film is presented in Estonian with English subtitles.

The only way to describe this film is as a dark bleak film, there is something very compelling about the film. I enjoyed it very much. The mental exercise of finding the connection between the subplots was refreshing.
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