This movie opens with one of the most enticingly fantastic scenes ever filmed and never lets up. It's weird and wonderful, but I'm sure it isn't everyone's cup of tea. A tsunami of crazy surreal imagery and dark humor, it makes Eraserhead look like Mary Poppins.
First, let me say it's ridiculous that this film was snubbed by the Academy Awards - it should at least have been nominated for best foreign film and best cinematography, which is breathtaking - and it was rewarded with an ASC Spotlight Award and other major awards.
The direction is masterful and the casting is perfect, from the young ingenues longing for love to the village grotesques who look like they've stepped right out of an ancient Baltic village. Between the evocative black and white cinematography and the colorfully eccentric characters, the film is like a hybrid of Ingmar Bergman's early films and Fellini's most fanciful works.
Although the story contains ghosts, a werewolf, giant chickens, a witch and magical robots made of antique farm tools, my guess is it would more likely appeal to fans of Cocteau than fans of Lon Chaney.
If you're looking for something truly different, yet highly entertaining, here it is. Just open your mind and enjoy the ride.
First, let me say it's ridiculous that this film was snubbed by the Academy Awards - it should at least have been nominated for best foreign film and best cinematography, which is breathtaking - and it was rewarded with an ASC Spotlight Award and other major awards.
The direction is masterful and the casting is perfect, from the young ingenues longing for love to the village grotesques who look like they've stepped right out of an ancient Baltic village. Between the evocative black and white cinematography and the colorfully eccentric characters, the film is like a hybrid of Ingmar Bergman's early films and Fellini's most fanciful works.
Although the story contains ghosts, a werewolf, giant chickens, a witch and magical robots made of antique farm tools, my guess is it would more likely appeal to fans of Cocteau than fans of Lon Chaney.
If you're looking for something truly different, yet highly entertaining, here it is. Just open your mind and enjoy the ride.