I have no clue how some other people that left a comment could compare it to Antonioni or Bunuel's dreamlike masterpieces.
The critique to the wild capitalism rampant in the former USSR, although now relevant more than ever, sounds trite.
The difficulties of communicating in a couple and keeping a relationship alive are analyzed without any depth or insight.
I understand that corruption in modern Russia and in the Baltic region is a serious problem, but the way the lack of justice is portrayed in the movie, with the attempt of being an upstanding citizen that backfires and leads to trouble, is very cheap.
But I must say that I liked two things:
Quite possibly what we are living (or what the former USSR is experiencing) is not the Golden age. But then, Are we really sure we are no longer capable of doing good? Are we really sure that we are so busy with ourselves that we don't even recognize that we are eating alive our loved ones (the new lover) and killing what they the cherish most (the dog)?
To conclude: this is a very pretentious movie, that was designed to look like art and to be provocative, without a genuine and honest message. In my opinion, the emperor is naked, and the director failed miserably.
The critique to the wild capitalism rampant in the former USSR, although now relevant more than ever, sounds trite.
The difficulties of communicating in a couple and keeping a relationship alive are analyzed without any depth or insight.
I understand that corruption in modern Russia and in the Baltic region is a serious problem, but the way the lack of justice is portrayed in the movie, with the attempt of being an upstanding citizen that backfires and leads to trouble, is very cheap.
But I must say that I liked two things:
- the devastated Church scene was quite beautiful, both visually and in terms of its message (the age of religion is gone, and only empty spaces are left, both because people left distracted by their search for material success and because of the "looting" that has taken place by the media, the political and cultural leaders.)
- when the main character runs to the young girl in a jogging outfit, with the tags still on (meaning that although he tried to put "a new suit" on, his change was just on the outside, it was superficial.)
Quite possibly what we are living (or what the former USSR is experiencing) is not the Golden age. But then, Are we really sure we are no longer capable of doing good? Are we really sure that we are so busy with ourselves that we don't even recognize that we are eating alive our loved ones (the new lover) and killing what they the cherish most (the dog)?
To conclude: this is a very pretentious movie, that was designed to look like art and to be provocative, without a genuine and honest message. In my opinion, the emperor is naked, and the director failed miserably.