Not an easy film to review.
Lots of interesting aspects.
An unusual work which I wouldn't want to pigeonhole.
There are too few films coming out of modern Russia that have a strong identity of their own.
BIPEDALISM is definitely original but also quite frustrating.
Lots of interesting aspects.
An unusual work which I wouldn't want to pigeonhole.
There are too few films coming out of modern Russia that have a strong identity of their own.
BIPEDALISM is definitely original but also quite frustrating.
There is a story (something Yufit could easily do without in the old days),
told in a very deliberate manner.
Took me three viewings to sort of roughly piece it together for myself.
A painter called Victor Vindov takes his wife and two children to the old country house
where they plan to spend the summer. While playing in the basement of the house, the kids find what looks like monkey bones, a diary and several cans of old 35mm film.Victor becomes increasingly unhinged as a result of this discovery. It seems, his primal memory has been awakened. In the meantime the military begin their search for several escaped (sub)human specimen bred as part of a secret 'anthropotechnics' experiment...
told in a very deliberate manner.
Took me three viewings to sort of roughly piece it together for myself.
A painter called Victor Vindov takes his wife and two children to the old country house
where they plan to spend the summer. While playing in the basement of the house, the kids find what looks like monkey bones, a diary and several cans of old 35mm film.Victor becomes increasingly unhinged as a result of this discovery. It seems, his primal memory has been awakened. In the meantime the military begin their search for several escaped (sub)human specimen bred as part of a secret 'anthropotechnics' experiment...
There are some very ugly bipeds in BIPEDALISM
Yufit does not try to engage the viewer in a traditional sense.
Whatever drive BIPEDALISM has stems from the sheer oddness of the proceedings.
There are shots of naked men creeping through the woods and across fields.
Their destination is not clear.
Their appearance and the way they move project menace but they're also fascinating to observe, like subjects in a wildlife documentary.
Whatever drive BIPEDALISM has stems from the sheer oddness of the proceedings.
There are shots of naked men creeping through the woods and across fields.
Their destination is not clear.
Their appearance and the way they move project menace but they're also fascinating to observe, like subjects in a wildlife documentary.
A Russian/Dutch co-production, BIPEDALSIM was financed by Sergei Selyanov (WAR, CARGO 200)
Visually the film is very strong with some elaborate framing.
The obviously post-synchronised soundscape is aggressive and memorable.
Lip movements and dialogue are wildly mismatched.
The director claims to have re-written most of the character's lines
during the sound looping stage, deliberately creating distancing effect and altering the story along the way.
Visually the film is very strong with some elaborate framing.
The obviously post-synchronised soundscape is aggressive and memorable.
Lip movements and dialogue are wildly mismatched.
The director claims to have re-written most of the character's lines
during the sound looping stage, deliberately creating distancing effect and altering the story along the way.
Yufit's other recent films include KILLED BY LIGHTNING (2002) and SILVER HEADS (1998)
Fucking hell Alex! That sounds like a movie right up my alley!
ReplyDeleteNice one!
Cheers!
J.
You're welcome mate:)
ReplyDeleteYeah I reckon you'll like it a lot.
It's very dark and strange stuff with some artistic ambition. Also very slow but not in a bad way.
Takes a couple of viewings to get into it but you know the deal with these kind of films. It's worth it in the end.