MI: The Return is perhaps the best movie made in Russia since Russia became Russia I try not to get into conversations about what is "the best," rather I tend just to say what I like and dislike, and perhaps why.
I think The Return is an outstanding movie and there were aspects of it that I really liked. The acting was phenomenal. The pacing of the story was very effective at building up tension. I actually did like that many questions about the father were left unanswered. However, the movie was a total downer, and it left me agitated for days afterwards.
I was glad I watched some of the extra material on the DVD. There were bits that showed the actor who played the father laughing and joking around with the other actors and crew. Yes, I understand the idea of an actor playing a role, but it was such a relief for me to see that guy smile.
I vaguely remember reading that Russian idea of cinema experience is different from American precisely in an amount of suffering an innocent cinema-goer is supposed to tolerate I once read a short quip about Russians' fondness for opera and Americans' fondness for the sitcom. It said something along the lines of "Russians like these 4-hour dramas in which a bad situation turns worse, everyone gets all emotional, and in the end nothing is resolved. Americans like 30-minute comedies in which an initial misunderstanding leads to hilarious situations, then it all gets sorted out and leads to a happy ending."
Though I tend to avoid such generalizations, I kind of like that one.
I tend to like my movies fairly light these days.
So Michael, who is a Finn in your household: you or your wife? Noone in my household is Finnish. What makes you think that? I thought we cleared that up years ago. (Where's the fun in my revealing my secrets so piecemeal if you're just going to forget the details from release to release?)
However, the kid *is* dressed in his Marimekko romper today. But that's just fashion.
Also, your custom title looks Finnish to me. Uppity? LOL.
Yeah, I remember wondering when I moved to Michigan whether the city
Ypsilanti was something Finnish. Imagine my disappointment in learning that it was named for some Greek soldier.