Tikhiye stranitsy

Impressionist experience of Dostoevsky. Some moments of pure grace. But, it feels like excerpts from a waaaay longer movie.

Riffing on Dostoevskian themes, T.S is a bafflingly brief film. At only 65 mins, it feels oddly incomplete, like a much longer work truncated for reasons as mysterious as its denouement. Regardless, it's a richly atmospheric experience that communicates complex feelings in hazy impressionistic waves of image and sound. There are some masterful moments buried within the murk and mist of this deeply cavernous dreamlike world, especially the scene where characters plunge headfirst into the abyss.

an Abstract Visual Art Work!!! (I saw the 2012 Edition)

Amazing moving paintings of the kind that "one perfect shot"-type tweeters would adore if they could be bothered watching. Other elements are less impressive: OK so we have Raskolnikov, but this still seems far from the spirit of Dostoyevsky, and especially of the passionate characters (including women) who make his work so psychologically masterful. As an "art installation", it would likely function very well, but Sokurov probably knows that no one really cares about the art gallery world.

the dialogue scene with the main character and the girl is incredible; this movie actually gives me a new vision of 19th century Russia (and probably a new vision of 'Crime and Punishment'), which is probably closer to reality; it feels like it could be a great movie, but it ends up being just a sample of what it could be; still there're a couple of great moments and it's a very interesting visual experience.

I can't help but see this film as, in a way, superficial due to how light the material is, yet how impressively artistic the painterly images are. Gorgeous (in an ugly way) to look at, but not containing the mood or depth it could strive for.