Originally posted by me on 12/11/06

Made in Hungary, the film evokes a lot of filmmakers' style (Tarkovski and his Stalker (1979)immediately come to mind) without becoming too self-indulgent. The "thank you's" in the credits go also to Bela Tarr, Sergio Leone and Portishead. My initial response was too critical and I ended rating it 33/100. But if you try to surrender yourself more to Fliegauf's allegorical take on post-socialist reality where death seems the only escape from a life that resembles hell you will definitely be rewarded. Long and slow tracking-shots for almost 160 minutes will either hypnotize the viewer or send him asleep. I finally surrendered, and fell under its spell. A problem could be the "formulaic" approach, which others would describe as "focused". Look out for the ending of the story which is actually the beginning of the film!

Afterthoughts:

After some consideration this is one of the must-see films of recent years. If you are a fan of Bela Tarr there is no way around this independent gem. Unique in every way, it is a bleak portrayal of the crumbling society in former eastern block countries. A gloomy and unapologetic trip into hell. The surreal quality and inserts in the film are also very interesting. 

My rating after the 2nd viewing was an impressive 71 out of 100

I believe arsaib has seen this one too, but his thoughts were buried after the crash of our old forum.