Beanpole

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Evan B Grim and ponderous, it's a film that doesn't offer much hospitality for the viewer. The time it takes for the two principal characters to have the briefest of exchanges is dreadfully slow, as if you could make a cup of tea before the other character responds. One of the characters is so unhinged that you wonder why she exercises such gravity during important plot points, difficult to tell whether she is sinister or horribly traumatized or both. However, its bleakness is neither morbid nor self-indulgent. This is Leningrad, a city that endured a long, destructive siege by the Germans during the way, and the movie moves through this postwar world. Trams are overcrowded, food is currency, electricity and hot water are hard to come by, death and damage is seen all about in starving children and amputated veterans. It's about survival, and the film seems to suggest that even love must be sacrificed upon the altar of survival. The performances are superb, the camera work intimate to the point of discomfort, and humanity is on full, brutal display. Collective and personal trauma run through Beanpole's veins, so deep as to go unspoken, but it is as present as any character. Too ponderous, in my opinion, to be great, but it has enough moments of greatness to warrant a watch. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/13/25 Full Review Alec B Mostly impressed that, given the subject matter, this thing isn't just a parade of misery for its own sake. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/10/24 Full Review PridePosterStudios Woefully bleak for no good reason. Rated 1/5 Stars •  Rated 1 out of 5 stars 06/20/24 Full Review Audience Member One of the best antiwar movies. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/03/23 Full Review Audience Member I have not given this five stars simply because it is a hard watch and tbh if I had known what it is like I probably would not have gone to see it. But if the evidence of a good film is one that stays with you, this is it. Everyone in the film is damaged by the War in different ways and everyone is searching for love to heal themselves. Iva seeks love from Masha, who can only find it in a child. Sasha also seeks love from Masha but he is naive. The other important character is Nikolai the Medical Director, like Iva a profoundly decent person trying to do his best in very difficult circumstances. This is definitely not to everyone's taste as among other things it js quite slow and long. And l have to say l found Masha much more interesting than Iva. A real survivor. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/16/23 Full Review Audience Member Two characters in the squalor and misery of post-war Leningrad communicate mostly by scowling and staring at the floor in each other’s presence, while awful, depressing things happen and they make additional awful life decisions. The painfully slow pacing may be intended to make the viewer feel the misery more immediately, and if so, it works. Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/27/22 Full Review Read all reviews

Beanpole

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