A Gentle Creature

A woman struggles to access her imprisoned husband, to get him a parcel, to check on his wellbeing: not in the 19th century, but modern day Russia - a damning film about corruption and the devastation it leaves, the tragic effects it has on the innocent and the sour taste it leaves behind.

First i gotta commend the cinematography ,, really impressive and montage just transition you into those miserable moments "gentle creature" experience ,, i mean her facial expressions were on point, for an amateur actress, and this is her first lead (big screen) ,, but it is apparent she is professional in "theater" ..

Anyway,, the story is emotional ,, and even though the script was not that strong, the events just keeps on pulling you to engage more and just try to find whether she gets to meet her husband or not.

final thought, recommended , but don't get bored from the first 20 minutes ,,, keep on watching ,.

This incredible movie was hard to watch but it was well worth it. The original story of Fyodor Dostoyevsky was adapted by the director to Putin's time, so much so that I thought that the movie (filmed in 2017) was made after the start of the present Ukraine war. The un-named woman leaves her residence and travels to the prison where her husband is held, without knowing that she enters a kafkaesque maze where the individual is a prisoner of the whim of the authorities. The reader is advised to remember all the passersby because they will be back towards the end. A very unusual movie, worth watching by all means despite its length.

'A gentle creature' defies categorisation, it is rich with both metaphor and realism. A Russian woman, depicted as 'gentle', searches for an explanation about the seeming disappearance of her husband who should still be in a Siberian prison. Her emotion during this journey is blunted and she gradually weakens further from lack of sleep and tiredness, until she is entirely and completely vulnerable. A courageous woman, she experiences the most extreme bureaucracy and corruption, the type that is the stuff of nightmares. This is masterfully depicted throughout, in scenes that no Hollywood movie is able to match. The viewer feels entrapped like the woman, and her emotional bluntness is understood completely.

Described by other reviewers as bleak, I found the dark mood of this story somewhat balanced by the humanity shown by others, strangers to the woman, who also suffer similar if not worse dilemmas than the woman. Her journey is her own, solitary and with great risk, but she is never invisible to others. Life in this Siberian town may be cold and harsh, but is life in any modern city any less warm?

I never read Dostoyevsky's short story that inspired the 2h20 film, so I'm not sure if the written story also reveals a large country where corruption is the dominating rule. If you are the usual movie fan, be prepared for long quite shots, raw characters, sophisticated narrative and humor. The story takes the viewer through a Kafkaesque and labyrinthine sequence of incidents and misfortunes where promises are broken and hope lives faraway. I guess it's all about Putin's Russia but also about Czar's and Stalin's nation. I like the movie but some creative solutions are a bit excessive.