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.

'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?

No that's not what this is about. Well on the surface it is about prisons. But generally speaking it's about a goverment, about a land keeping their citizens at check. And them going along with it. We see our main actress who just wants to send something. But the package never gets delivered. So she goes and tries to solve that issue, so the male this is supposed to reach gets it.

It's not even about the package or what is in it. It is about everything working against the ordinary citozen. In this case a woman who seems determined to get answers, but also easily swayed to not to. But circumstances don't let her go, even when she is warned and accepts to leave. This is harrowing and quite draining. To call its pace slow would be quite the understatement. Like saying, the main character doesn't talk much. She probably is us - the viewers ... viewing! Watching and trying to figure out what's going on.

Get out - one may think multiple times. But as I said that's easier said than done. And leads us to quite the memorable ending - even though expected - is it actually what happens? Do we know? And how dreamy does it get after it is quite "real" at the beginning. There is dreadfulness, there is pain and there is horror of the mind (and body) ... and there is maybe also the question: how come the director has not been arrested yet? Did he get lucky? Maybe Putin isn't aware of this or does not think this will reach a lot of people anyway ... and even if ... it's just a story, righ? Right?

A thought provocative, very engrossing film. Though it is slow & boring at times, it rewards the viewer in the end. Hats off to the director.

Good acting, good screenplay, minimal dialogues. I will cherish this film for many years.

A Not To Be Missed film.

I must confess this. Till the last 20 minutes I had some doubts about this movie. I was questioning some scenes and I was about to see this movie as an average try to make a good movie. But the last 20 minutes completes the whole movie perfectly and all my doubts were erased and I was totally wrong on my questioning. It is like a puzzle and the last big piece comes at the end. I found a piece of Fellini's festive language and Tarkovsky's mystery in the movie but it is totally a brand new approach, not an imitated way, contrarily very fresh approach. Very impressive movie, very impressive direction and performance of all artists. All I can say is just to thank to them. It must be watched!