Soviet Movies: Kira Muratova - Astenicheskiy sindrom AKA Asthenic Syndrome (1989)

Quote:
In the old days it was called hypochrondria, or black melancholia. Now, apparently, it's termed the Asthenic Syndrome. Whatever it is, Nikolai, a teacher of epicly indifferent pupils, has got it, and it's not much fun. Worse yet, quite a few other people, even an entire society, seem to be afflicted with the same problem writ extremely large... Written by L.H. Wong

User Reviews

a hard-core Mike Leigh's Naked
9 August 2000 | by demyanov.fury2207 (fury2207@mail.ru) (Tashkent, Uzbekistan)

Russian Mike Leigh's Naked, even more straight-in-the-face, even more disturbing and more poetic though painfully honest.

Truly full-blooded cinema, although astonishing in its hyperrealism and - if I may - psychological gore.

Also, probably the only film made by woman which cannot be referred to as a "film made by woman".

Highly recommended for M.Leigh's fans, plus - for some reason it feels logical - viewers interested in WongKarWai, MikeFiggis, maybe Jon Jost. However, I have to admit - whereas being close in its impact to WKW's Happy Together, it's not as romantic as Chungking Express/FallenAngels, hardly as nostalgic as Days of Being Wild and definitely different in many ways being compared to nearly anything either Figgis or Jost have ever done. ;-)

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