Usually not a fan of Robbie’s reviews, but he hit the nail on the head with this one. Hard To Be A God, is the DEFINITION of a aesthetically important and culturally significant film. It is the cinematic equivalent of Renaissance art, in the most grotesque and twisted way.. It it honestly a miracle that it exists. We may never get a film like this ever again.
Yeah I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since I first saw it and that was years ago now. It's jaw dropping, I've never seen anything like it. It's uncomfortable to watch, even _exhausting_ to watch, in a good way. It's the most intimate feeling movie I've ever seen because it seems like 95% of it is close up shots of characters, and you can almost smell it, with the way they go on and on throughout the film about how much this planet stinks. That's a weird thing about the film actually, they barely talk about it in the film, but it's technically a sci-fi movie even though it's all set in what appears to be the dark ages of earth, because the main characters are actually astronauts who went to this planet and had to live among the alien people there (who look human) for a few years to learn everything they could about them, but instead these earth astronauts used their knowledge and technology to become hugely wealthy and powerful tyrannical lords. Because on this planet, things like reading and learning are illegal and punishable by death because they're ruled by anti-intellectualism as an ideology. So anyone with even a slight amount of knowledge (let alone an earth astronaut who is most certainly a leading scientist who has at least one doctorate, if not multiple doctorates in various fields of science) can easily trick these people into doing whatever the smart person wants them to. But yeah you can just about almost smell this film. And yeah it's uncomfortable and claustrophobic to watch, easily the most claustrophobic film ever made. Plus the whole thing is shot as if it's one big long scene. They didn't shoot it all in one take, they just cleverly stitched many different takes of many different scenes together to make it seem like one long scene. Which is fairly common in the art form of cinema. But what isn't common is that this one long scene that makes up the film spans years and years of time and travels across thousands of miles of land of this country on this alien planet, yet it works as one long scene somehow. It's like the astronauts forget how long they've been there, and you feel the same way too with how the film is edited together, so that you not only intellectually understand what these characters are feeling, you actually feel what these characters are feeling too, and smell what they're smelling, hear what they're hearing. Watching this film made me want to take a very long hot bath right afterwards. I've never seen a film that so perfectly depicts dirtiness and filthiness like Hard to be a God. It's just an extraordinary film, and is genuinely completely unique. There's absolutely nothing like it.
The screening I attended had the most walkouts of any screening I have been in before. From the 30 minute mark on there was a slow and steady drip of people leaving at the end of each scene. Hard to blame them in a way. I stuck it out and felt rewarded for it, although, a year on I am still not entirely sure those rewards were... Truly a bizarre and singular cinematic experience.
If you were confused by the movie, you should defo read the book. It's one of my favorites, and does a much better job expalining what the hell was going on.
The most interesting thing about this film, to me, was how it was shot. They mention sausages dangling into view and stuff like that happens constantly in the film. Stuff that you might normally attribute to an amateur but I thought it was brilliant. It created this sense of presence in the world where you want to see what's happening, but your view is obscured. It's one of those things that if it wasn't done perfectly, it would be ruined the film but he pulled it off. The story was not easy to parse, but it was in my opinion less important than the world. The world is fully realized with all its nihilistic sadness and grotesque chaos. You feel the frustration of the main character with a hint of disconnection with this foreign world. You feel the ignorant rage of Don Reba and his army of Greys. This movie was a masterpiece for those who value film as more than just a narrative. It is truly greater than the sum of its parts and I think film lovers will be discovering and appreciating this for decades.
@@rodrigovalerosancho2234 it’s a strange and twisted film that I have seen a few times over the years. But I have seen Khrustalyov My Car a couple times more.
Clayton Kusaj, I see both movies related somehow, more baroque than German’s earlier work. Khrustalyov is quite impenetrable even if you know about Russian History, an amazing Stalinist nightmare. This director deserves more recognition in the West.
Back in the day when I was told to watch Stalker by Andrej Tarkowski, I was about to watch it twice but couldn't because this movie basically rolled one over. Hearing back in the 2013 that Hard to be a God, is finally getting a modern movie adaptation, left me cold, due to that fact that there was a modern movie of The Inhabited Island which I find is an embarrassment. Only now realized that this one is a movie by German, and his final one. Will enjoy every bit of it. I guess reading the book would be an advantage, before watching this movie.
I thought it was excellent, the over the shoulder scenes to going so close up you can see the snot running from peoples noses, never seen a movie directed in such a way before.
Human egos, desires of the flesh, fetishes, narcisism, desire to dominate and rule..... And then one man, Krishna, Budha, Jesues etc walking among the insanity and collecting it.
When leaving the cinema after the first living through this movie, my girlfriend said "I want THIS to NEVER end", and the radio lady there is afraid of losing some 3hs of her precious time. Watching a masterpiece is actually gaining you time. Ask Proust. And Tarkovsky.
A total masterpiece of immersive atmosphere, in terms of cinematography and production design, but massively problematic in terms of plot structure and narrative coherence. Not much seems to happen in the 3 hour film, and being a Russian speaker would have only made it slightly more coherent. A huge slog through the mud, literally, and as viewing experience. I would maybe leave it on in the background, the same way a painting hangs on the wall. Can't say that I'd sit through it again from start to finish though...
loof21 I speak some Russian. At one point I thought that perhaps the subtitling was bad since none of it seemed to make sense. But upon listening to the dialogue it was indeed the same as what was translated. At the 2 hour point I realised that my mouth was wide open and a deep confused frown was on my forehead and that I hadn't understood a single thing that had happened for the past 2 hours.
@@tigermunky finally watched this film and thought the subtitles were bogus, thanks for clarifying. But at a certain point I just stopped caring about the dialogue and went with the flow, it's more of an immersion movie than a narrative movie, I felt like truly visiting a place out of time and space.
I think the incomprehensibility of the plot adds to the film. Like the narrator sorta tries to explain you what's going on, and then you're just dropped into this world and you're just observing something that isn't interested in explaining itself to you. You're just dropped into the madness.
I've read the book that the movie is based on before watching the movie and even with that it was difficult to get. Still quite enjoyed the movie, and I'd have to recommend the book, it's a lot more coherent than the movie
If she doesn't like it who cares. It sits nicely, snuggled within the other four of my top five favorite flms. I love movies and never before, or since, have I had such a powerfully visceral experience from watching one. It's a beautifully grotesque film
In preperation, I read the novel right before watching the movie but it hardly makes the movie more comprehensible. Its like German filmed an adaptation but then decided to cut out all parts related to the actual story. There are hints here and there, points that seem to connect to what is going on in the book, but its all very vague and obtuse. Ultimately, this is less of a movie and more of an *experience.* An experience that wasn't exactly pleasant. Strangely enough, I'm not against the idea of going through it *again* if only because of my apprechiation for the cinematography, the set design and the general atmosphere. Its just _immersive._ My eyes were practically glued to the screen.
I was very lucky to randomly discover this film after I came home from a rave and wasn't able to sleep due to the irresponsible use of certain stimulants (which i do not condone). It was the perfect mindset to experience this masterpiece because it was easier to relate to the nihilistic and destructive state, that the main character finds himself in. It was an extremely hypnotizing, and also in a strange way meditative and calming experience (Although I'm not quite sure, that this was the intent of German ^^). I can't believe how unknown and unappreciated this film, even though it is meticulously crafted in every aspect. Every frame makes it evident that everybody on this production fully believed in this project and put their heart and soul into its' completion. Acting, scenery, cinematography, extras, sound-design: Everything works in perfect harmony to completely engulf the viewer in a beautiful depiction of a broken and chaotic world, full of dissonance and decay. There were some longshots from 10 - 20 minutes, where I couldn't believe how effortlessly the camera maneuvers through some extremely crowded and hectic interior scenes. The first 3h long film where I actually was relieved at the 2h mark, that there was still 1h left watch ^^. I don't want to say that you have to take drugs to enjoy this or any film, but I agree very much with Robbie that you have to be in a very special mood, to be able to fully enjoy this work of art. I hope that you'll give it enough tries until it clicks :) 10/10
Film fanatics I implore you to watch German's films in chronological order - from his first to his last. You could pass over his first film because it is co-directed and not purely German's work. Start with ''Trial on the Road'' (1971.) and see why that film was banned in S.S.S.R. for 15 years and what makes it one of the greatest war films ever. Then watch ''20 Days Without War'' (1976.) and see why was that film banned for 3 years. Then watch ''My Friend Ivan Lapshin'' (1984.) and see why did Tarkovsky named it the most significant Soviet film and why did film critics judged it as the greatest Soviet film. Then watch ''Khrustalyov, My Car!'' (1998.) and see what is the utter beauty of cinema. Only then watch ''Hard to Be a God''. German changed my life.
I watched it….all the way through. It was not an easy watch. It was worth it. Now…trying to get my husband to watch it. He is not a fan of subtitles or ugliness…but I almost have him reeled in…I was endlessly fascinated with the concept. The only question is….can I watch it again?
I haven't seen Hard to be a God yet, but I think that if Edith has tried a number of times to get through this film she should just give up! Too many people feel obliged to get something out of art because they think they should, or because people tell them they should. Let your heart decide, not your ego.
@@lancethrustworthy So you think that even though Edith had tried a number of times to get through the film, she should persevere, because you know what's best for her? Silly Lance.
@@atulyabharadwaj2279 the point is that it’s incomprehensible. It’s about humans searching from freedom, but not just in a planetary sense, but freedom from the human condition and the limitations of said condition like language, as pretentious as that sounds
Watching on my big TV, then after 20 minutes, bed time. Watch some the next day on my iPad. After dinner, back to the big TV and then to the sofa for another half hour. I’m halfway through. Christ, if you can make it through several seasons of The Walking Dead, you can handle this movie over the course of a few days. Incredible cinematography, terrific sound design, still entertaining.
Finally! I tried to sit through the Russian version without subtitles, but I gave up and decided to wait for a subbed version to be released. I can't wait to watch it. -Edit- oh, it's showing in Bristol this evening. Looks like I'll be seeing it sooner than expected. 2nd Edit- Wow. I don't know what I watched. I dragged my friend to see it with me and I was worried that he'd be angry, but the both of us were simply too confused to know whether to be angry or not. It's either the worst film ever made or the greatest. I have no idea what was going on during the entire film since there's almost no narrative structure and most of the dialogue makes little sense. He has to find a doctor at some point for some reason I never understood. He finds the doctor and then tells him to go away. That's basically the most I understood. I would actually go as far as to say that Inland Empire is easier to understand than this film. All I can say is that this film is possibly an existentialist metaphor for the utter pointlessness of life and that life is filled with meaningless conversation, shit, piss, vomit, blood, idiots and is ultimately a total waste of time. Yet, I never wanted to walk out of the cinema. It somehow kept me with it, despite my brain protesting throughout. I'm just so very confused.
tigermunky From looking st the summary of both the film AND the original book it's based on on Wikipedia, I still have no idea what even happened. I know that they were trying to find the doctor because he was gonna get executed I think cause he's smart and that's illegal. Idk I got an hour through the movie and gave up. I'll have to try and finish it though, cause it was still a very well made film, just the dialogue was... nonsense.
Need to read the original book bro. People who are not in the theme of the story is initially hard to understand the movie. This is its main disadvantage.
I didn't like this 2013 movie at all. Plus, it's not particularly faithful to the novel. The earlier, 1989 movie adaptation also takes liberties with the plot, but makes vastly more sense: like the novel it conveys a sense of the clash between two civilisations which is the whole point of the story. The 2013 movie misses that, and is basically just a self-indulgent wallow in filth for its shock value.
Knowing that it took nearly 10 years for the Strugatsky brothers to be allowed by the government to publish the novel, it's highly unlikely the Russian gov allowed a TV show spin off
I just ordered this based on what Robbie said. Classification 15. We have come along way haven't we. Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, was an 18, only 20 years ago, now it's a 12.
While I regard Robbie Collins as something of a hipster, he does know his onions. However, Bowman does not, but she likes to give the impression that she does. We can all check IMDB Edith! She says she tried a few times to get into this film but couldn't. Now because Robbie waxed lyrical about it, she says she'll have to try again. It's okay to have an opinion Edith. Just because Robbie says it's an important moment in cinema, doesn't mean it is.
I saw this today at the ICA and left after 90 minutes. I felt bad to leave and wish I'd hammered on. I don't think it's a 'Great' film because the characters dialogue offers nothing. Something like 'Stalker' - which this is being compared to a lot - has real human emotion at the centre. 'Hard to be a God' feels like a sensory art piece rather than a film. It seemed to be about how hard it is to watch an 'incredibly hard film' and not about the characters in it. Yes it made me feel gross and uneasy - but that's because it's so relentlessly scatological it sometimes feels like a Russian version of that joke 'The Aristocrats'.
Why do so many critics consider extremely long, hard to digest movies a 'Masterpiece'? I'm not a guy that enjoys schlock content like the Fast Furious franchise, but one of the criterion for being a masterpiece should be not being a chore to watch or be engaged in. Charles Dickens wrote many masterpieces but he was writing for the common man, not literary snobs. That's not to say this is a bad film, it can still be good, but to be a masterpiece it should resonate with more humans like other classics do, not just a few that are willing to endure it.
So a three house movie based on a Star Trek episode? Also, the whol thing sounds like another one of those European beat-you-over-the-head-with-it allegory films.
This isn't "Hollywood" cinema.... Middle American's need to understand that you don't need to understand anything when it come to art, you need to open you'r heart an feel... That's why i love Russian cinematography and European...
Usually not a fan of Robbie’s reviews, but he hit the nail on the head with this one. Hard To Be A God, is the DEFINITION of a aesthetically important and culturally significant film. It is the cinematic equivalent of Renaissance art, in the most grotesque and twisted way.. It it honestly a miracle that it exists. We may never get a film like this ever again.
Well said. It blows my mind that it exist but I’m so glad it does. Truly one of a kind masterpiece
Yeah I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since I first saw it and that was years ago now. It's jaw dropping, I've never seen anything like it. It's uncomfortable to watch, even _exhausting_ to watch, in a good way. It's the most intimate feeling movie I've ever seen because it seems like 95% of it is close up shots of characters, and you can almost smell it, with the way they go on and on throughout the film about how much this planet stinks. That's a weird thing about the film actually, they barely talk about it in the film, but it's technically a sci-fi movie even though it's all set in what appears to be the dark ages of earth, because the main characters are actually astronauts who went to this planet and had to live among the alien people there (who look human) for a few years to learn everything they could about them, but instead these earth astronauts used their knowledge and technology to become hugely wealthy and powerful tyrannical lords. Because on this planet, things like reading and learning are illegal and punishable by death because they're ruled by anti-intellectualism as an ideology. So anyone with even a slight amount of knowledge (let alone an earth astronaut who is most certainly a leading scientist who has at least one doctorate, if not multiple doctorates in various fields of science) can easily trick these people into doing whatever the smart person wants them to.
But yeah you can just about almost smell this film. And yeah it's uncomfortable and claustrophobic to watch, easily the most claustrophobic film ever made. Plus the whole thing is shot as if it's one big long scene. They didn't shoot it all in one take, they just cleverly stitched many different takes of many different scenes together to make it seem like one long scene. Which is fairly common in the art form of cinema. But what isn't common is that this one long scene that makes up the film spans years and years of time and travels across thousands of miles of land of this country on this alien planet, yet it works as one long scene somehow. It's like the astronauts forget how long they've been there, and you feel the same way too with how the film is edited together, so that you not only intellectually understand what these characters are feeling, you actually feel what these characters are feeling too, and smell what they're smelling, hear what they're hearing.
Watching this film made me want to take a very long hot bath right afterwards. I've never seen a film that so perfectly depicts dirtiness and filthiness like Hard to be a God.
It's just an extraordinary film, and is genuinely completely unique. There's absolutely nothing like it.
The screening I attended had the most walkouts of any screening I have been in before. From the 30 minute mark on there was a slow and steady drip of people leaving at the end of each scene. Hard to blame them in a way. I stuck it out and felt rewarded for it, although, a year on I am still not entirely sure those rewards were... Truly a bizarre and singular cinematic experience.
Emporers new clothes
I get the feeling sometimes it is the very dark and sarcastic Russian version of Idiocracy
Spot on
If you were confused by the movie, you should defo read the book. It's one of my favorites, and does a much better job expalining what the hell was going on.
The most interesting thing about this film, to me, was how it was shot. They mention sausages dangling into view and stuff like that happens constantly in the film. Stuff that you might normally attribute to an amateur but I thought it was brilliant. It created this sense of presence in the world where you want to see what's happening, but your view is obscured. It's one of those things that if it wasn't done perfectly, it would be ruined the film but he pulled it off.
The story was not easy to parse, but it was in my opinion less important than the world. The world is fully realized with all its nihilistic sadness and grotesque chaos. You feel the frustration of the main character with a hint of disconnection with this foreign world. You feel the ignorant rage of Don Reba and his army of Greys.
This movie was a masterpiece for those who value film as more than just a narrative. It is truly greater than the sum of its parts and I think film lovers will be discovering and appreciating this for decades.
Four years later! At first I thought it was because some cameraman was following the main character around.
I'm surprised this guy still has hair under his bottom lip...has a little tik that makes him pull at it.
Saw this as part of BFI LFF last year. Mindblowing.
"Creator, if you exist, destroy us all. Like rot and puss."
Rumata is a historian, he's only there to document.
What a fantastic review thanks Robbie. I'm going to see this.
Robbie Collin's best review. Hard To Be A God is a masterpiece.
I must agree with you.
I also agree. Mark Kermode never made a review, probably he has never seen it, too busy admiring comercial crap.
@@rodrigovalerosancho2234 it’s a strange and twisted film that I have seen a few times over the years. But I have seen Khrustalyov My Car a couple times more.
Clayton Kusaj, I see both movies related somehow, more baroque than German’s earlier work. Khrustalyov is quite impenetrable even if you know about Russian History, an amazing Stalinist nightmare. This director deserves more recognition in the West.
The set up is enough to get me interested.
Now I will try to go and see it.
If I can.
Back in the day when I was told to watch Stalker by Andrej Tarkowski, I was about to watch it twice but couldn't because this movie basically rolled one over.
Hearing back in the 2013 that Hard to be a God, is finally getting a modern movie adaptation, left me cold, due to that fact that there was a modern movie of The Inhabited Island which I find is an embarrassment.
Only now realized that this one is a movie by German, and his final one.
Will enjoy every bit of it.
I guess reading the book would be an advantage, before watching this movie.
I thought it was excellent, the over the shoulder scenes to going so close up you can see the snot running from peoples noses, never seen a movie directed in such a way before.
The acting, the faces, the pictures, just beautiful!!!
Human egos, desires of the flesh, fetishes, narcisism, desire to dominate and rule..... And then one man, Krishna, Budha, Jesues etc walking among the insanity and collecting it.
Rinse and repeat
When leaving the cinema after the first living through this movie, my girlfriend said "I want THIS to NEVER end", and the radio lady there is afraid of losing some 3hs of her precious time. Watching a masterpiece is actually gaining you time. Ask Proust. And Tarkovsky.
A total masterpiece of immersive atmosphere, in terms of cinematography and production design, but massively problematic in terms of plot structure and narrative coherence. Not much seems to happen in the 3 hour film, and being a Russian speaker would have only made it slightly more coherent. A huge slog through the mud, literally, and as viewing experience. I would maybe leave it on in the background, the same way a painting hangs on the wall. Can't say that I'd sit through it again from start to finish though...
loof21 I speak some Russian. At one point I thought that perhaps the subtitling was bad since none of it seemed to make sense. But upon listening to the dialogue it was indeed the same as what was translated. At the 2 hour point I realised that my mouth was wide open and a deep confused frown was on my forehead and that I hadn't understood a single thing that had happened for the past 2 hours.
I am in total agreement. Finished it about 2 hours ago and fled here for help.
@@tigermunky finally watched this film and thought the subtitles were bogus, thanks for clarifying. But at a certain point I just stopped caring about the dialogue and went with the flow, it's more of an immersion movie than a narrative movie, I felt like truly visiting a place out of time and space.
I think the incomprehensibility of the plot adds to the film. Like the narrator sorta tries to explain you what's going on, and then you're just dropped into this world and you're just observing something that isn't interested in explaining itself to you. You're just dropped into the madness.
I've read the book that the movie is based on before watching the movie and even with that it was difficult to get. Still quite enjoyed the movie, and I'd have to recommend the book, it's a lot more coherent than the movie
If she doesn't like it who cares. It sits nicely, snuggled within the other four of my top five favorite flms. I love movies and never before, or since, have I had such a powerfully visceral experience from watching one. It's a beautifully grotesque film
It's also on my top list. What are your other favorites?
Good review! Had the pleasure of seeing this at Gothenburg Film Festival last year and what an experience. It's a hard but rewarding film to watch.
In preperation, I read the novel right before watching the movie but it hardly makes the movie more comprehensible. Its like German filmed an adaptation but then decided to cut out all parts related to the actual story. There are hints here and there, points that seem to connect to what is going on in the book, but its all very vague and obtuse.
Ultimately, this is less of a movie and more of an *experience.* An experience that wasn't exactly pleasant. Strangely enough, I'm not against the idea of going through it *again* if only because of my apprechiation for the cinematography, the set design and the general atmosphere. Its just _immersive._ My eyes were practically glued to the screen.
I was very lucky to randomly discover this film after I came home from a rave and wasn't able to sleep due to the irresponsible use of certain stimulants (which i do not condone). It was the perfect mindset to experience this masterpiece because it was easier to relate to the nihilistic and destructive state, that the main character finds himself in. It was an extremely hypnotizing, and also in a strange way meditative and calming experience (Although I'm not quite sure, that this was the intent of German ^^).
I can't believe how unknown and unappreciated this film, even though it is meticulously crafted in every aspect. Every frame makes it evident that everybody on this production fully believed in this project and put their heart and soul into its' completion.
Acting, scenery, cinematography, extras, sound-design: Everything works in perfect harmony to completely engulf the viewer in a beautiful depiction of a broken and chaotic world, full of dissonance and decay. There were some longshots from 10 - 20 minutes, where I couldn't believe how effortlessly the camera maneuvers through some extremely crowded and hectic interior scenes.
The first 3h long film where I actually was relieved at the 2h mark, that there was still 1h left watch ^^.
I don't want to say that you have to take drugs to enjoy this or any film, but I agree very much with Robbie that you have to be in a very special mood, to be able to fully enjoy this work of art.
I hope that you'll give it enough tries until it clicks :)
10/10
I listen to this from time to time just to hear Robbie's voice
Film fanatics I implore you to watch German's films in chronological order - from his first to his last.
You could pass over his first film because it is co-directed and not purely German's work. Start with ''Trial on the Road'' (1971.) and see why that film was banned in S.S.S.R. for 15 years and what makes it one of the greatest war films ever.
Then watch ''20 Days Without War'' (1976.) and see why was that film banned for 3 years.
Then watch ''My Friend Ivan Lapshin'' (1984.) and see why did Tarkovsky named it the most significant Soviet film and why did film critics judged it as the greatest Soviet film.
Then watch ''Khrustalyov, My Car!'' (1998.) and see what is the utter beauty of cinema.
Only then watch ''Hard to Be a God''.
German changed my life.
Okay buddy i'm taking your advice. Hoping to gain something.
Very good post
Good gopnik
@@Ask4This since you're here you're knowledgeable. I'm Serbian, btw.
@@patrickclamrod9454 are you still with us? What happened, did you see German's opus?
Oh gosh, I love the Strugatskys and just got this book in the post last month. Did not know this was happening.
Lists all the reason why no one would ever want to watch it, concludes this film is an incredible achievement highly worth watching
The is the Russian novel of movies -- great original, but I really wanted it to be 45 minutes or so.
that woman is the perfect example of "do not cast your pearls before swine"
A certain animated movie song comes to mind…
"It's tough to be a god…"
lol
I watched it….all the way through. It was not an easy watch. It was worth it. Now…trying to get my husband to watch it. He is not a fan of subtitles or ugliness…but I almost have him reeled in…I was endlessly fascinated with the concept. The only question is….can I watch it again?
I haven't seen Hard to be a God yet, but I think that if Edith has tried a number of times to get through this film she should just give up! Too many people feel obliged to get something out of art because they think they should, or because people tell them they should. Let your heart decide, not your ego.
How funny, that you would type such stuff without seeing the film. You're silly. Take a walk.
@@lancethrustworthy So you think that even though Edith had tried a number of times to get through the film, she should persevere, because you know what's best for her? Silly Lance.
It sounds like "On the Silver Globe." But mention of the Strugatsky Bros. rouses interest...
Thank you for introducing me to "The Silver Globe"!!!!!!!!!!!!
Nick Marin Silver Globe is great, isn’t it
Yes!!!
@@benwatford3068 *incomprehensible babbling with beautiful cinematography*. Zulawski new how to capture beauty why couldn't he just make sense.
@@atulyabharadwaj2279 the point is that it’s incomprehensible. It’s about humans searching from freedom, but not just in a planetary sense, but freedom from the human condition and the limitations of said condition like language, as pretentious as that sounds
It feels like the plot to an old school Doctor Who
Watching on my big TV, then after 20 minutes, bed time. Watch some the next day on my iPad. After dinner, back to the big TV and then to the sofa for another half hour. I’m halfway through. Christ, if you can make it through several seasons of The Walking Dead, you can handle this movie over the course of a few days. Incredible cinematography, terrific sound design, still entertaining.
How about to read the novel BEFORE seeing the movie. Somehow nobody mentioned it. It’s one of my favorites.
Finally! I tried to sit through the Russian version without subtitles, but I gave up and decided to wait for a subbed version to be released. I can't wait to watch it.
-Edit- oh, it's showing in Bristol this evening. Looks like I'll be seeing it sooner than expected.
2nd Edit- Wow. I don't know what I watched. I dragged my friend to see it with me and I was worried that he'd be angry, but the both of us were simply too confused to know whether to be angry or not. It's either the worst film ever made or the greatest. I have no idea what was going on during the entire film since there's almost no narrative structure and most of the dialogue makes little sense. He has to find a doctor at some point for some reason I never understood. He finds the doctor and then tells him to go away. That's basically the most I understood. I would actually go as far as to say that Inland Empire is easier to understand than this film.
All I can say is that this film is possibly an existentialist metaphor for the utter pointlessness of life and that life is filled with meaningless conversation, shit, piss, vomit, blood, idiots and is ultimately a total waste of time.
Yet, I never wanted to walk out of the cinema. It somehow kept me with it, despite my brain protesting throughout. I'm just so very confused.
tigermunky From looking st the summary of both the film AND the original book it's based on on Wikipedia, I still have no idea what even happened. I know that they were trying to find the doctor because he was gonna get executed I think cause he's smart and that's illegal. Idk I got an hour through the movie and gave up. I'll have to try and finish it though, cause it was still a very well made film, just the dialogue was... nonsense.
Need to read the original book bro. People who are not in the theme of the story is initially hard to understand the movie. This is its main disadvantage.
German's films make an average viewer feel like a low-quality hidden camera.
Ffs leave your whiskers alone, man!
Mark Evans It's maddening, isn't it?
I didn't like this 2013 movie at all. Plus, it's not particularly faithful to the novel. The earlier, 1989 movie adaptation also takes liberties with the plot, but makes vastly more sense: like the novel it conveys a sense of the clash between two civilisations which is the whole point of the story. The 2013 movie misses that, and is basically just a self-indulgent wallow in filth for its shock value.
one of the best movies ver made, period.
Произведение "трудно быть богом" - отличное. Как и братья Стругацкие.
Was this novel adapted as a television series in the old USSR in the 70's or 80's?
Nope!
Knowing that it took nearly 10 years for the Strugatsky brothers to be allowed by the government to publish the novel, it's highly unlikely the Russian gov allowed a TV show spin off
I just ordered this based on what Robbie said. Classification 15. We have come along way haven't we. Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, was an 18, only 20 years ago, now it's a 12.
In the beginning I thought he was going to hate the movie. I'm really interested now though.
Love this movie
I still have to make it through that film. I can see why it is important, but it is so very revolting!
Edith Bowman, brain-free zone.
I watched it last night , I can die happy now ♥
Leave the god damn goatee alone Robbie, jus kiddin, like the Robbie style.. jus leave the beard alone lol.
Sounds quality
While I regard Robbie Collins as something of a hipster, he does know his onions. However, Bowman does not, but she likes to give the impression that she does. We can all check IMDB Edith! She says she tried a few times to get into this film but couldn't. Now because Robbie waxed lyrical about it, she says she'll have to try again. It's okay to have an opinion Edith. Just because Robbie says it's an important moment in cinema, doesn't mean it is.
I'm just like Edith about Dylan!
I didn't like the film very much. I liked Robbie's review of it.
I saw this today at the ICA and left after 90 minutes. I felt bad to leave and wish I'd hammered on. I don't think it's a 'Great' film because the characters dialogue offers nothing. Something like 'Stalker' - which this is being compared to a lot - has real human emotion at the centre. 'Hard to be a God' feels like a sensory art piece rather than a film. It seemed to be about how hard it is to watch an 'incredibly hard film' and not about the characters in it. Yes it made me feel gross and uneasy - but that's because it's so relentlessly scatological it sometimes feels like a Russian version of that joke 'The Aristocrats'.
I like his reviews but can u stop touching your beard.
Reminds me of a certain religion.😂
Why do so many critics consider extremely long, hard to digest movies a 'Masterpiece'? I'm not a guy that enjoys schlock content like the Fast Furious franchise, but one of the criterion for being a masterpiece should be not being a chore to watch or be engaged in. Charles Dickens wrote many masterpieces but he was writing for the common man, not literary snobs. That's not to say this is a bad film, it can still be good, but to be a masterpiece it should resonate with more humans like other classics do, not just a few that are willing to endure it.
Some of these comments are so dumb that they are even more filthy them the movie it's self kkkkl
The woman's attitude sums up why there are so few female film critics. And TH-cam film fanatics. And directors.
Why the hell is this guy constantly digging in his beard? It's more disgusting than the movie!
nothing new here, folks
Robbie Collins is one of those pretentious guys. This movie lost my attention after 40 minutes.
You sound like a brainlet. Do you just have no taste whatsoever? Or do you need everything to be the same?
It’s a great film.
So a three house movie based on a Star Trek episode?
Also, the whol thing sounds like another one of those European beat-you-over-the-head-with-it allegory films.
He sounds unbearable.
Pretentious, self indulgent, incoherent rubbish.
Duh...
Terrible film, ignore the 5* reviews by critics. Life's too short. No story, no point.
Arthur Z and Robbie please stop touching your beard!!
steady, all the hipsters will be aiming for your tin helmet if you keep that up
Do you really think all films need a "story" or "point" to be good? I haven't even seen this film but you sound like a tasteless peabrain.
This isn't "Hollywood" cinema.... Middle American's need to understand that you don't need to understand anything when it come to art, you need to open you'r heart an feel... That's why i love Russian cinematography and European...
@HEAT1996 you ended up doing exactly the same at the end of your statement. nice try bullying I guess
The his movie was garbage, but I’m sure all the artsy clowns that think are cool will like it😂