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Title: The Ritual of Cinema
Review: Sukurov is the kind of director who creates mood, pace, sound and rhythm unlike any other director out there. The story here is at once satirical and sad - but really the style of the film is what makes it all work. Is the film slow paced? Sure, I guess. It's also only 85 minutes long. The editing is not lightening fast and there is not a lot of plot. But that is sort of the point. It is about a particular ritual that a son develops while faced with the challenge of burying his recently deceased father. If you want good cinema that slows down time and envelopes you in it's haunting, spare [cold] atmosphere then this is a fine film. It ultimately has a lot to say about the madness of bureaucracy [communist or not] and the irony, pity and hope of life.
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