Reviews

I went to see the film at this years Edinburgh film festival and I have to say it did stay with me for a long time. At first I did find it quite irritating - you are exposed to a lot of people and neither the film nor the filmmaker seems to care for establishing characters in a traditional manner. But than slowly things began to sink in and suddenly I felt exposed to an entire world that had been constructed very carefully - it felt if you had gone to a party where you did not know anybody and than slowly started to figure out people and connections between them. The overall mood was quite melancholic - but also very human, and in its observation of a life standing still quite desperate. Interestingly I went with a group of friends: after the film people had quite different opinions on it - taking into account that not many words seem to be spoken during the film, it did keep us busy talking all evening. What I liked most was the very finely crafted performances of the cast - especially the unspoken desires, the life underneath our skin seemed so transparent. In that sense it did in a way remind me of that Russian author Chechow, but that might be a very big comparison. If you ever have the chance to get hold of it, I can only recommend it - that, by the way, is the true great thing about seeing films at Edinburgh, you just run into things you would not expect and you go home enriched and provoked and not only dully entertained.