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Critics Consensus: While it treads familiar narrative ground -- and is a mite predictable at times -- In the Fog proves a smart, thought-provoking antidote to Hollywood action movies.
Critic Consensus: While it treads familiar narrative ground -- and is a mite predictable at times -- In the Fog proves a smart, thought-provoking antidote to Hollywood action movies.
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All Critics (30) | Top Critics (12) | Fresh (26) | Rotten (4)
As remorseless in style as it is in message, "In the Fog" offers little hope and few pleasures, but earns admiration for its elegant exploration of the lowest depths of the human condition.
Intimate in the telling, sweeping in the implications, Loznitsa has created an unusually incisive film.
In the Fog, which seems to me a masterpiece, is about occupation and the destruction of an understanding of one's own history.
Even when the pace wanes, the images are still gripping.
The world and its choices are often cruel, but for all the devastations visited on the characters, Mr. Loznitsa is searching for the human good amid a human catastrophe.
In the Fog has the inevitability of an avalanche, and only our overfamilarity with Nazi-tribulation scenarios, and perhaps its excessively punctuated ending, could slow it down.
In an era when vague is en vogue-when filmmakers are more likely to find acclaim for posing big questions than for trying to answer them-In the Fog stands out for being resoundingly unambiguous.
The intellectual range is vast, and the images and performances stirring beyond the customary standard. In its thorough meditation on man's moral place, and its beautiful depiction of one version of life's trial, lies this film's joy.
Powerful existential drama about the tension between morality and the imperatives of warfare against the century's most immoral regime. A sign of the continuing health of Russian film after the devastating blow of Yeltsin's privatization.
Sergei Loznitsa occasionally writes his ideas too explicitly in the film's dialogue, though he makes up for this by deftly employing some ironic symbolism elsewhere.
Hollywood action movies build up to a frenzied crescendo. Here, it's exactly the opposite. But you'll still end up holding your breath. In the fog.
Like Come And See in neighbouring Belarus, it's a stark vision of humanity in a hellish world. Tough and thought-provoking.
In occupied territory during World War II, Nazis execute a group of partisans who were possibly turned in by one of their one. Burov(Vladislav Abashin) figures the most likeliest informer is Sushenya(Vladimir Svirskiy), the one the Nazis let go. So, Burov decides to take matters into his own hands, while at least not killing his former comrade in front of his family. And that's when things get complicated. Being on somewhat unfamiliar cinematic ground, "In the Fog" gets off to a promising start. But that's before the movie spends most of its running time chasing its tail, instead of spinning a compelling and suspenseful story. That just goes to prove that the time and place for a philosophical discussion is not a war zone.
Super Reviewer
This compelling, intelligent, heart-warming drama directed by Sergei Loznitsa was a real flop in Russia. But this co-production between Belarus, Germany, Latvia, Netherlands and Russia had some success on the world scene - even competed for the Palme d'Or at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival and won the Golden Apricot at the 2012 Yerevan International Film Festival in Armenia. I can understand that in the modern times with lots of individuals with short attention span there will be limited number of those who will appreciate the slow tempo of storytelling, and this movie feels like it tells a story in a real time - like we are there. You can almost feel the cold, pain, love... everything from the screen is magically transferred to the audience! The director Sergei Loznitsa deserves praise. What a wonderful job he did. It wasn't an easy task to adapt Vasil' Bykaw's short story. Everything is happening in 1942 on the territory of Belarus occupied by the German army. The Germans face strong resistance from the Partisans and hatred of most of the local people, but there are people who work with the Germans, because there were tough choices to make. Sushenya is a track-walker arrested and then suddenly released after three of his co-workers were hanged for blowing up a German train. Two Partisans, one of them his close friend have an order to capture Sushenya and lead him to the forest where they have to shoot him as a traitor... but life has different plans! I haven't enjoyed such complex acting from the main characters for a long time. Vladimir Svirskiy as Sushenya, Vladislav Abashin as Burov and Sergei Kolesov as Voitik have three completely different characters and you could almost feel the way they think - they were working perfectly with each other to bring the feel of chemistry which is necessary for movies like this to feel real. And this one did! If you are a fan of an intense, slow-burning and haunting drama, pick this one.
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