Movie Diary 2012-12 [December]

A mysterious gas has killed every breathing creature of England and, possibly, of the world, but things are going to get worse, as the survivors are suddenly threatened by menacing slow-walking vacuum cleaners. Are they invaders from another planet, or is it just door-to-door salesmen's final solution for better selling?
Sweetly crappy.
Hollywood film(re)makers, what are you waiting for?

A group of Russian soldiers in an occupied rural region (maybe Chechnya?) spend their days in laziness, joking, having sex with local peasants and dealing with an unknown, dangerous sniper who occasionally reminds them of the death they bring and, often, receive. No heroism here. No pride. Just dirt.
Skillfully shot in documentary style, this is a huge criticism over military forces, and Russian forces in particular. I challenge you to find a character who's not detestable.

This is THE mélo.
They are both married, but they meet on a Thursday and soon fall in love. They know it can't last, they date for a while, go to the movies, kiss each other, laugh, and one final Thursday they say goodbye and return to their homes, brokenhearted. Train goes by. Tears. Tears. End.

The film depicts the aimless lives of a boy and his apparently nevrotic and possessive mother, all immersed in a dehumanized Soviet society where everyone acts like they've lost it completely.
Hard to watch, deeply unsettling and disturbing. For cinemasochists. I liked it.

Kira Muratova's aim was never to accomplish the viewer's needs or desires, there was always Hollywood for that.
A complex drama, set in a Soviet-era little town, in which two women love the same man. The beaufiful, elaborate montage gracefully eliminates time, letting the memories of the two women control the rhythm of the entire movie, in a dream-like progression.

A sad, cruel story of poverty and wealth.

Some interesting scenes, but too much talking. It is basically a love story between a trucker and a lady, told in Muratova's typical unconventional style, but due to the long dialogues and the over-the-top acting sometimes I found it difficult to follow.