Best movie of this year hands down!

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

remarkable as portrait of survive of a world. for the images. for the inspired cast. and for the courage. a film about freaks and sins, about appearances and profit, about victims as reflections of cruelty against them. and the perfect music as respiration of story. a puzzle of characters. and the links who defines each. traces of absurd and pornography. and a new era.at first sigh, a Russian Salo. in fact, only sketch of a society after Communism.cold, direct, without masks. or, maybe, a parable. its sense seems be not very important. because it could be a film about viewer. a puzzle for self definition. or a testimony about the secret rooms of few lives.

Bold, experimental film with overtones of David Lynch, Peter Greenaway and others, but on first viewing at least seemed to have more style than substance. Photographed on scratchy black and white and sepia toned films, and using titles like a silent film even though there is dialogue, there's a fascinating sense of being dislocated in time by this story of exploiters and pornographers in turn of the century Russia. Thematically it explores all sorts of exploitive relationships, particularly sexual, and the idea that all cinema, is in it's own way, porn.But somehow the ideas don't seem all that deep. I felt like I got the films message long before it was over. Still, the visuals kept me hooked, and I'd definitely give it another look to see if it grew deeper on a second viewing. It's one of those films.

I saw this film last night, and I must say it completely captivated me. Two bizarre men, Johan and Ivan, who photograph women being whipped, infiltrate their way into two upper-class families.The photography is fantastic and the sepia tones are captivating. St. Petersburg looks like it has come alive from circa 1910, as do all of the shots of buildings and towns. Parts of the film are shot in "silent film" style, and I wouldn't have minded if it was silent -- visually, it's stunning and completely worth your hour and a half of time just as a silent film. In addition, the acting is great (as someone else said, great facial acting: the camera often lingers on a character's face for a lengthy shot). Each actor seems perfect in their unique role. I don't want to give anything away, but these actors will surprise you with their characters. And of course, the acting hangs on the writing, which is brilliant. The dialogue is incredibly sparse and minimal and yet moves the story along rather quickly. I couldn't ask for more. As for the spanking, there is a lot of it in this movie. The scenes are somewhat erotic, more often they're shocking and funny. if this would disturb you, stay away from this film. If you have a good sense of humor or just enjoy it, then feel free. Lastly, Balbanov is a great director (if you have not seen Grus-200, do so as soon as you can!) and a gifted writer. His stories of Russian life ring with a quality of realism...some tend to see an allegory for soviet life in his work. Perhaps that's true for this film as well...

It is sad that some find this film worth watching. I am Russian, and I am disgusted. There is nothing in this film that deserves praise, except cinematography. However, I am not one of those who find beauty in death or perversion. I think this film is poorly designed and directed. There is nothing more irritating and even enraging than shameless speculation in art (if you can call this garbage art). Balabanov wanted to shock the viewers by pervasive evil, and he succeeded in creating a hopelessly dark film. But the biggest shock is Balabanov's primitive directorial work. I would never advise any of my friends to watch it. Huge disappointment!