Father and Son (Otets i syn, Russia, 2003)

While is was good to watch a film with intellectual pretension after a high fat diet during Christmas, this one almost disappears up its own ass. There are some great compositions, usually a telephoto lens to a disorienting effect but… As Tony Rayns said in Sight and Sound, the attempt to diffuse the homoeroticism with [...]

The Return (Russia, 2003)

I though Andrei Tarkovsky was dead! However, this isn’t simply a rehash of that great filmmaker: this is a great film. Stunning compositions; engaging characters; engima. Only occasionally does the gratuitous crane or tracking shot show that it’s a debut feature. Must be seen. The cinematography (and still photos at the end) is stunning. (DVD) [...]

Of Freaks and Men (Russia, 1998)

Bonkers film that’s immaculately done. The narrative focuses on the corruption and destruction of a bourgeois household (sounds good to me) but maybe this film does it in such a disturbing way that it repels the bourgeois in me; or maybe it’s not very good; or maybe it’s not to my er taste. (DVD) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0156849/

Night Watch (Russia, 2004)

I think this is the first contemporary mass audience Russian film I’ve seen and it yields nothing to Hollywood and, because of its national difference, is more interesting than much Hollywood genre fare. The battle between good and evil is given an interesting twist as it seems the evil ones are the equivalent of the [...]