Cчастье моё -Schastye Moye (My Joy)

An impressive feature film debut by Sergei Loznitsa that marveled my eyes beyond the huge expectations I had as everything I visually and auditively admire in cinema is found here, long takes, fix camera, hand-held camera, outstanding compositions, excellent framing, light, absence of light, playing with shadows, darkish palette and long-very-long silences. As a matter of fact, I'm sure that if I turn off audio, will understand everything that happens, that's how powerful images are and how inconsequential words are in this film.

Camera is by none other than Oleg Mutu, better known to me for his amazing work in outstanding 4 luni, 3 saptamâni si 2 zile (4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days) and Moartea domnului Lazarescu (The Death of Mr. Lazarescu), and with Loznitsa direction becomes truly masterful, not almost perfect but unbelievably perfect.

Then there is no time in film, so many might see a collection of stories joint by the main character that's always present in the present; not me I saw something else, but timeless narrative is done so impressively flawless that mixing up past and present also becomes inconsequential to what you will see as in this tale there are no reasons, just isolated facts that give a portrait of what might or might not be truth, but definitively portraits human behavior of the not-good kind. A behavior set in Ukraine or Russia here, but that applies everywhere.

While watching and very early in film I saw Tarkovsky imagery but once the main character grows a beard it became Loznitsa imagery. In story I saw Haneke, yes Him, as he also portrayed (less graphically) similar behavior in The White Ribbon; but Loznitsa broken-ish narrative with necessary and graphic violence belongs to him. This is a unique style (or non-style as Loznitsa calls it) and the only practical consequence I have is me "dying" to see his next film, In the Fog.

So what's story all about? Reality after years of incomprehensible war and the consequences in the population, abuse of power, petty thieves, sexual abuse, authority incompetence, lying, passiveness, violence, killing, and many more nouns related to behavior of the not-good kind.

Some say that this is a movie that everyone should see and I agree, but I know that not many people stand more than two hours watching very slow-pace, not really knowing what's going on, expressionless performances, very little emotions while doing whatever they do, long silences, long shots, etc., so definitively this movie is not for everyone but for those that LOVE visual movies and can wait until the end to decode the story -everything- they saw.

If you haven't seen this 2010 Cannes in competition film I strongly recommend it to you as one must be seen movie that you can revisit as many times as you wish, just to marvel yourself on how magnificent cinema can be.

Big Enjoy!!!

Watch trailer @MOC