A Russian film that is erotic, enigmatic, and baffling. No plot, dialogue that serves more as poetic musings, and visually dreamy and gorgeous. People never just look at each other but gaze at each other, and the two leads are heavily muscled and mostly topless throughout the film. The backdrops are spectacular: a
dreamily lit flat, the incredibly steep rooftop outside where the father and son leap about, the tall, squished-together buildings of their port city, the train and it's intricate levers and buttons...This film is more enjoyable if experienced like a dream: an experience about deep feelings, the deep psychic bond between a father and his son, and the sadness, loneliness, and fear for both when the son begins to detach from this bond to pursue a bond with a woman. The unusually intense connection between the father and the son borders on erotic, and it almost feels like viewers are being made deliberately disturbed by the intensity of certain scenes. Not overtly explicit or sexual. Very arty film: definitely an acquired taste.
July 27, 2009
Top Critic
