That tragedy looms heavily in Behind the Sun only makes its life-affirming moments -- resonate more deeply and powerfully in a film that is one of the year's best.
A compelling existential tableau: sweating bodies, creaking mills turned by numbed oxen, people facing the daily and seasonal cycles of life with little hope of breaking free. Behind the Sun is forceful stuff.
When a culture offers little more than death upon death, appreciating life's everyday beauty is as good an answer as these characters -- and this filmmaker -- can provide.
75
San Francisco ChronicleEdward Guthmann
San Francisco ChronicleEdward Guthmann
A powerful allegory.
75
Boston Globe
Boston Globe
This is a deeper film, delving into the twisted motives that rule lives, the lethal cycles that shackle progress, and, ultimately, the courage it takes to choose life.
75
New York PostJonathan Foreman
New York PostJonathan Foreman
A gorgeously photographed, sun-baked fable.
75
USA TodayClaudia Puig
USA TodayClaudia Puig
This tale is both redemptive and tragic, if occasionally melodramatic.
40
Chicago Reader
Chicago Reader
The appearance of circus performers in any film not by Fellini usually bodes ill, and it does so here.