sameenuk

The truth about this film is that it just wasn't what I thought it would be. It's set in Almaty during the early 90s, but really felt like it was set in 1970s with the style of costumes.

The break up of the soviet union and emergence of Kazakhstan was largely rendered invisible. You'd get a few hints like cccp logos and the key plot devices that Arsens father passed in Afghanistan. You could just see soviet settings for most of the indoor scenes.

But the acting outside of the exasperated mother rarely felt persuasive. And these were very good actors. There were many almost Bollywood like fight scenes carefully choreographed but the key fight was well done.part of the problem in the film is leaving unspoken quite crucial elements, in this case, explaining why senior gang members made certain decisions or how the main character ended up where he did.

I liked how one of the characters would explain anime style how gangs worked, with cutaway scenes. Those were key and quite well done. But also a bit of a distraction.

Watched this film on a plane. I really think it's more of a play, and it's been a televised drama. I could easily see this work as a radio play. The premise is a good war of the roses style comedy.

A divorced couple are defacto holding each other hostage as neither wishes to move out of their joint apartment until it's sold just in case the other takes the whole place and screws the other one. So clearly a breakdown of trust.

A lot of this film is left really unspoken which some viewers hate. There isn't much spoonfeeding going on. It's not clear how long they have been in the flat , or what was the last straw resulting in divorce. There was a great bit about families with parents of both sides getting entrenched in the conflict.

It has to be said there was this heartwarming role of the father in laws. It was a tad sexist to assume it's just mums who take sides. The acting was very gentle. Initially I really believed in the end, the respective parents would somehow agree to buy the flat to resolve the impasse. But it took a much more emotional direction.

Id say this was a passable film. It won't win awards. The plot devices really suit a theatre play with the comedic relief. The film needed split screen in certain movements rather than consecutive shots. But a play would really bring the best out of it, even filming on stage instead of a set.

There was a lot of unspoken language play too where the Kazakh language itself became a key bit of the emotional healing. Crude russian was used at one point to depict domestic abuse but Kazakh used to emphasise family themes. The end credits would probably need updating.

But a very very absorbing movie. The end dragged for a fair bit. But it was so highly unpredictable as a plot premise even when there was foreshadowing. The hospital scene was surprisingly tense.

I recommend this if you're a fan of Luther or Gotham. It is a major commentary on vigilantism but also a very on the nose satire of liberal policies in criminal justice. I definitely don't agree with the political side of the film, but I enjoy they went onto a lot of depth as to the impact of leniency across society.

Some scenes, interactions between characters , notably the side characters were left too unexplained for too long. Clearly some editing went on to shorten the film.