Opiniones de usuarios

In modern New York, a thief (Adrian Lester) breaks into an old woman's apartment. She surprises him and holds him at gunpoint. She tells him the story about two brothers in the turn of the century. Elijah (Joseph Fiennes) and Luke (David Wenham) have a breakdown in relationship. Luke is drawn to the wild east in Macedonia where the Ottoman is battling a local revolt. He joins a group of bandits pursuing the revolt leader known as The Teacher for the lucrative reward. He gets taken prisoner by the Turks who is joined by his hated brother.

Filmmaker Milcho Manchevski has taken on too much for one movie. It's trying to do too much and ends up stepping on each other. It may work better as an old style violent spaghetti western. Even taken separately, the narrative flow is a bit disjointed. The modern part only adds the trans-generational story. The robbery part isn't that compelling. Without knowing either character, there is nothing to root for or against. It's often problematic to have a character tell the story of the movie. The reliability of the telling is suspect. It's also trying to have some surreal poetry about flying. It's doing too much and gets muddled. This is definitely ambitious and probably too ambitious for its own good.

Firstly, I'm a huge David Wenham fan. Didn't read anything about the plot before renting it. I was really surprised by the film's beginning, having no cowboys or Macedonians in sight. This was an interesting Rashomon-like tale, but I really didn't care for two of the storytellers - the old lady and the burglar. I think the story would've worked better just told from the two brothers point of view; no silly subplot about gangsters and gold coins.

Joseph Fiennes is hardly in the movie, and when he is, he mostly quotes the Bible in a horrid accent. David Wenham's American accent was even worse. For me to say anything negative about Wenham...it must be really bad. He also screamed in anguish at the sky so much I could only think "Mendooooza!" (from the Simpsons' "McBain" movies). Visually, this film was very beautiful, not just because of a handsome lead either, but very engaging use of colors, costumes and landscape. The way images from the past and future collided was very cool. The gun-fight scenes were well choreographed, and pretty damn bloody. Perhaps that's why I found the old lady's section less interesting - less action, less exotic locations.

A few laughs, a few gasps, a bit of sex, a lot of violence, but just too thin of a story. If you arrange the brothers' tale minus the gimmicky time-jumps, the movie would be about an hour long, not 2+ hours. I can't figure why the director didn't just fatten the characters and context of their story and tell it straight through. This is a movie about storytelling, but viewers need a better story. And David Wenham deserves a better movie. Preferably one where he can speak more naturally.

A modern western that interestingly takes us between Turkey in the early 1900's, to modern day New York, New York. DUST brings a well rounded story with unique characters and beautiful scenery to the table, while maintaining a flow between smooth contentedness and shocking chaos. The structure of the narrative is built to keep our attention, creating suspense and leading us to want answers. Problems still exist. One is the overuse of story to reality dualism that completely undermines the reality that the film worked so hard to construct. Violent realism is a shock, showing us the sadistic personalities of this film world in the East. We see many relationships between characters that are very questionable, but still understandable. We are left to ponder (and roll our eyes) upon the happy ending within the sad, yet realistic world. Everything is tied up in the end, but something else interesting occurs. The entire narration of the film is undermined. We are left to question our trust in the truth of the narrator's words. Did this story, which gave these oddly connected characters reasons for being together actually happen the way we were told, did it happen at all? This little twist is the main weapon in the movies arsenal, curving at least one side of an analytical movie-goer's lip towards a smile. It is intelligent and creative in aspects and yet uses stereotypical Hollywood-like conventions that weaken it's good attributes. It ain't bad, but it also ain't the best film I've ever seen. I do believe it to be a much better film than Manchevski's first film, Before the Rain. He is growing.

When we first put Dust into the DVD player and the film started, I wondered if maybe the video-rental store put the wrong dvd in the case. As the story progressed, I was enamored by the brilliant execution of story within story within story. The world needs more films like this, with semi-unfamiliar faces who don't need to work so hard convincing us that they are indeed this character they portray. This is one of those films people will still be talking about in 25 years; a monumental masterpiece that broke the grounds in straightforward plot-telling!!

the movies that manchevski writes and directs share some things with tim burton's movies. all right, their contents are completely different, BUT the style with which they are made follow similar patterns: 1. you ALWAYS have to read between the lines in order to get the whole story; 2. the characters are never the stereotypes of modern cinema - their real motives are hard to grasp, unless you think about it; 3. the visuals are stunning; 4. there are always time issues (in manchevski's films much more explicitly than in burton's films). ok, that said, you really have to see this movie in order to get how the concept of eastern western and subliminal time travel can be incorporated into one movie without the feeling that the connection has been forced. the acting is nice, not oscar material, but right on the spot in capturing the confusion of the characters (although the first 10 minutes have some genuine bad acting). overall, i would give this movie 9.5/10, because the idea is 11/10.

A New York thief named (Adrian Lester) robs at a New York apartment where he meets a tough-as-nails hundred-year-old woman (Rosemary Murphy) . Along the way , two sharp-shooting brothers Elijah (Joseph Fiennes) and Luke (David Wenham) from the Wild West are confronted by the love of a woman, ex-prostitute called Lilith (Anne Brochet) , a Macedonian revolutionary and a beautiful pregnant woman, all cross paths in a tale that spans two continents and three centuries . And Luke finds his calling as a brutal bounty hunter and Elijah shows but rarely , solemnly hunting Luke .

¨Dust¨ is a twisted , glossy and complex drama with violence , emotion , strong confrontations and shootouts . This very wild eastern western bears an uncanny resemblance to that supposedly extinguished early entity , the Euro-pudding and following a Spaghetti Western style . This work stands out in world cinema for its unique way of playing with space, time and emotion . Biblical in scope , Babel-like in execution , it is a sprawling vengeance saga starring Joseph Finnes and David Wenham as Elijah and Luke , sharp-shooting brothers from the old Wild West who fall out over a woman and high-tail in turn to the post-Ottoman turmoil of Macedonia . These two trigger-happy gunslingers are interlaced with a triangular love story on a married prostitute , a revolutionary hell-bent on liberating Macedonia from the Ottoman Empire , The Teacher , and a beautiful pregnant woman . The film shows a difficult flick with peculiar roles in which all cross paths in a tale that spans two continents and three centuries , including some historical events as the strong repression turks executed againt Greek population. Almost as soon as the Greek revolution began, there were large scale massacres of civilians ordered by Ottoman authorities. Turkish army massacred Jews, Muslims, and Christians suspected of anti-Ottoman sympathies alike, mainly in the Peloponnese and Attica where Greek forces were dominant. The Turks massacred Greeks identified with the revolution, especially in Anatolia, Crete, Constantinople, Cyprus, Macedonia and the Aegean islands. They also massacred unarmed Greeks in places which did not revolt . ¨Dust¨displays fractured narrative resembling an abstract painting. This muffled is further fractured by its failing narrator , a present-day ancient woman called Angela - finely played by veteran Rosemary Murphy- whose N. Y. apartment Edge/Adrian Lester makes the mistake of attempting to burgle . The ambition might be a magical layering and merging of tales , lives and eras , but the effect is surprising crush. Main and support caste are pretty good with plenty of known actors such as Joseph Fiennes , David Wenham , Adrian Lester , Anne Brochet , Rosemary Murphy , Matt Ross and brief appearance by then unknown Vera Farmiga. In the film Luke/David Wenham meets Sigmund Freud on the boat from America , Pablo Picasso at a gallery opening in Paris and even comic-books hero Corto Maltes at a stand-off against Turks .

The motion picture was original but intricately made by Manchevski and it opened Venice 2001. He and crew did extensive research on the Wild West, the Ottoman Empire and events at the turn of the 20th century as preparation for the historical half of Dust. Milcho Manchevski's acclaimed ¨Before the Rain¨ is considered "one of the greatest debut feature films in the history of cinema" and "one of the most important films of the decade". Manchevski continues down his distinctive artistic path with the award-winning features Dust , Shadows, Mothers, Bikini Moon, Willow, the short forms The End of Time, Thursday, Macedonia Timeless, 1.73 , Arrested Development's Tennessee and an episode of HBO's The Wire, among others . Rating : 6.5/10 . Well worth watching.

...after mixing one part "A Fistful of Dollars" and 2 parts "Vanilla Sky." Don't bother with keeping the leftovers. A great many extras found work, though.

After having read some reviews of 'Dust' I was not sure if I wanted to see it or not. However, the "David Wenham infatuation" prevailed in the end, and I went as far as to actually purchase the film. It was money well spent, you could say. While the movie would not appeal to general audiences, it left me awestruck. I ended up watching it again, on the same night.

"Wow" is how I describe feeling after the credits rolled (the first and the second time). I don't want to spoil anything for those who have not seen the movie, so I'll just stick to my reactions to it. There was laughter, there were tears, there might have been an "eww" once or twice, there were definitely lustful thoughts of David Wenham (he's rather cute, you know). Acting was superb, though I'd like a few words with the 'dialect coach' (hint: the leads are not American). All in all, a great movie. I highly recommend seeing it at least once.

Milcho Manchevski made a startling debut as movie director with "Before the rain" and he had all the right ingredients he needed to make a great, almost perfect movie. This is the follow up to that massive success and just can't avoid looking like a pale shadow of his first film. It is by no means a poor effort by Manchevski, but the right ingredients just aren't there this time. The acting is the main thing that saves it from being a failure. Still it is a strong movie that can be intriguing to watch in its best moments.

David Wenham and Joseph Fiennes play two cowboy brothers that wind up in Macedonia, fighting on different sides in a bloody conflict between the Macedonian natives and the oppressive Ottomans. Luke fights on the Ottoman side because they pay in gold, Elijah on the Macedonian because they are the right side. There are many bloody scenes here and it is one thing that I don't like with this film. The overall carnage gets too exhausting, simply put. And there is no real thrill in it either, except for the villains getting killed. The parallel stories intertwining aren't nearly as effective here as in "Before the rain". The plot with the black burglar and the old woman is weak and ineffective. Only the dramatic relationship between Luke (Wenham)and Elijah (Fiennes) and their rivalry over the beautiful and headstrong Lilith (unknown but solid actress) is what makes this film interesting and worthwhile.

Wenham gives a really powerful performance here and even overshadows both Fiennes and the rest of the cast. If you are a fan of this actor then you have a good reason to watch this film. If you are not and if you don't like bloody battle scenes and harrowing drama, avoid this film.

Wow I just finished watching this movie and i must say i am greatly disappointed. To start off this movies plot makes no sense what so ever. It seems to drift off somewhere in the middle. The acting is terrible. It is also to long for what it is I mean come on 2 hours for something that could be told in 80min. I swear, about one hour into this thing i kept looking at the clock hoping it would end soon. This movie also takes place in 2 time periods. In present day and in you know western times, but to tell you the truth the present day stuff is way better than the main western part. Of course all films have there good points and this one is no exception on account of the gunfights are fast and full of energy. But still I recommend everyone if your a fan of westerns or not to avoid this one at all costs. My grade F.

If you look past some of the annoying factors (accents, gore, ect...) and let yourself get lured into the storyline of this this movie it is truly amazing. I rented this film thinking it would be just another filler of my time and I was blown away by the complexity of the story and quality of camera work. It was definitely a keeper in my book, I bought it immediately. I hope others will give this one a chance and also become enchanted in the storytelling aspect represented here. It is completely fulfilling to the end.

This abomination reminded me of Heaven's Gate -- not the film, just the feeling of sitting through it.

What starts out interesting and promising degenerates into pointless, unfathomable mush. However, the fact that the two lead actors wail and shriek a lot does seem a clever way to disguise that (1) they are British w/appropriate accents and (2) the script is inane.

I need to write some more lines, but that would just waste words so I will repeat paragraph 2:

What starts out interesting and promising degenerates into pointless, unfathomable mush. However, the fact that the two lead actors wail and shriek a lot does seem a clever way to disguise that (1) they are British w/appropriate accents and (2) the script is inane.

The director hasn't worked since 2010. This probably does not include his janitorial work, for which he is eminently qualified.

What a mess!

It's unusual a film will have as many good ideas as this and so many striking ideas and images and still not be a success. Perhaps it's because there are simply too many striking visuals and set-pieces - other directors would have built whole films around just one or two of the concepts contained here - for one film to cope with all of them. Essentially, the story is of a burglar (Lester) who breaks into a house of an old woman (Murphy) in New York and she tells him the story of American cowboys (Fiennes and Wenham) in the Ottoman Empire in Macedonia and their tangled fraternal love/hatred when confronted with a beautiful woman. It's a story that dips in and out of narrative timelines. Sometimes it's New York and sometimes it's the Old west and sometimes it's old Macedonia - and sometimes it's bits of all of them. And sometimes it's just fantasy. Reality, illusion, truth and cinematic deception are all part of the mix. Director Machevski is not here to give the viewer an easy ride. He is an intelligent man and he expects intelligence of his viewers. However, in return he offers some beautiful images that pay homage to spaghetti westerns while adding a sly twist of knowing humour. It's violent, but there's a blackly funny element to it that's closer to life than the comic-book stock-in-trade of such directors as Tarantino (and rightly so, Macedonians have seen more real-life warfare than most Hollywood filmmakers).And despite this, it's a movie that's life-affirming (not in the easy way - you really have to like life to have it affirmed here). The performances are variable. Wenham and Fiennes have both done better in the past and you have to hope they'll do better in the future. But in Lester and Murphy, there are two actors who are in full command of the camera. There's not an emotion you'll feel that they haven't carefully worked to create. Simply beautiful work. With a greater distribution, this is would have built a considerable cult following. Not easy-going, pop-corn-chomping stuff, but highly recommended.

Milcho Manchevski establishes new guidelines for independent movie makers, successfully balancing between Hollywood commercial and the independent art film. Only few compromises and hybrids like this have proven worth filming (and watching) and I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome.

First of all, there was the careful choice of names - Luke and Elijah (biblical names) opposed to the prostitute Lilith (female demon). No wonder that Lilith was in so many ways connected with water and finally she drowned. Than, there's Neda (from an old Macedonian poem "Serdarot" by Grigor Prlichev, awarded first prize at Athens). Then, a thing which impressed me was the short appearance of certain characters like Sigmund Freud, Pablo Picasso and Josip Broz Tito. Manchevski has used his old "trick" from his first film "Before the Rain" - non-linear time, but while in "Before the rain" the explanation was "The circle is not round, time never dies" in "Dust" it is "The centuries do not follow up each other but coexist like parallel universes".

Repentance was an important motif in the movie, especially the repentance of Luke and Edge.

Certain scenes have moved me, the scene in the hospital when Angela dies and the nurse is asking Edge what is he to her... The scene in Macedonia, when the women are laundering the carpets on a rocky waterfall (Mariovo)... And another thing - me as a Macedonian have always been brought up with the notion that our freedom fighters were noble men who were usually victims of blood thirsty Turks, but this movie had an interesting point that they were all butchers and murderers whose only lust is not freedom or fight against oppression but GOLD!

Probably this movie doesn't have the prophetic touch of "Before the rain" clearly displayed in the current political situation in Macedonia, but there's again the scene with Albanian gangs killing innocent Macedonian cattle breeders.

And another thing - both Angela and Luke are mocking the official clerical (church) "authorities", when Angela refuses the confession of the catholic priest on her death bed and when Luke kills the local orthodox priests offering assistance in the negotiations with the Turks (by the way, the priest is a traitor, which questions another illusion of mine and my generation - that the priests and the Church have been very active in protecting the Macedonian villagers from oppression and torment).

I know one thing for sure - that as soon as I am able I will use my proud privilege to be a Macedonian and visit Mariovo, where a part of the movie was made, and especially the bridge where the Turks attempted to pass so many times during the 17-th century and did not succeed.

The tension seems to fade at some points and that's why the rate of "9" form my user's vote, but still, this is an excellent complete product, made with the touch of perfect craftsmanship.

Art meets Western in this movie, and maybe I just wasn't ready for that. When my parents and I rented this, we were expecting a modern western, something that isn't seen too often nowadays. Instead, we rented a movie that was pretty out there.

Jumping from modern New York to the Old West and then to the Far East, we weren't sure what to make of this movie. I found the relationship between the thief and the old lady to be odd, yet interesting. However, I wasn't really interested in the rest of the movie. It was too disjointed for my taste.

As for the violence, it was up there with Gangs of New York and Braveheart, maybe even worse. The characters in the movie seemed to celebrate the violence and surround themselves in it. And just to make things even more realistic, there were at least three times when characters threw up. It was a good thing I wasn't eating while watching this movie, or I might have vomited as well.

Dust is a unique movie, but not one that movie-watchers should go into recreationally, like we did.

My IMDB Rating: 5/10. My Yahoo! Grade: C+ (Flawed but Worthy)

Wonderful! If you don't mind over-the-top violence to people and animals that is. We watched this last night and can't stop talking about it today. I've read reviews from people who didn't get it or didn't like it but I can't think of anything I disliked about this movie. For my tastes, this is a masterpiece of storytelling and suspense, love and redemption. Every character proved to be both more complex and more real than most movies can manage to portray. Rosemary Murphy's performance was absolutely stunning. If you prefer stories that run from end-to-end requiring none of your attention like a TV show, what the heck are you watching movies of this caliber for? This movie is only for true lovers of cinema. I don't want to give away anything but my wife and I just had a long conversation about some of the scenes that even she was confused about. If you watch this with someone else, compare notes, you may have been watching different movies all together depending on your interpretation of who was who.

It's easy to miss what DUST does with the Western's clichés. The movie is a kind of rumination in modern, international terms on THE WILD BUNCH, with some problems (e.g., Joseph Fiennes's Southern accent and arguably too many bloodbaths) and with some remarkable achievements. Chief among these is Manchevski's managing to keep several threads hanging because he pays us the compliment of assuming that we are paying attention, waiting for culmination, like the youngster who finally proves to be the movie's protagonist. We need very few details to make the important connections. The lad is a low-class thief in hock to dirty cops; he confronts an old broad far tougher than he is, who sees his resemblance to the Luke of her memory, a mercenary cowboy who found it easier to kill than love. As she begins a sharp-witted decline to death, she tells Luke's story. The story is full of traps. We think Luke fled to Macedonia because he loves the prostitute his sinister, found-again brother (Fiennes) has married. But Luke and his life are more complicated than that, as we gradually learn, circling through past, present, and the minds of several participants. Manchevski values images, cutting to the old lady's photos from the past, mixing times and spaces within the frame. He insists that we are watching the old lady's story, not even a pretense at reality. At last the youngster takes up the challenge and Luke redeems himself in a final confrontation whose truth is in fiction's need to resolve the central issue: here, that memory is a story which makes time come round to emphasize the dark ironies and pains from which we keep trying to protect ourselves.

This film is SO much more than story line(s) and seeming non sequiturs which gradually flow together. It is like a 15 course multi-sensory feast of foods from strange lands, some of which taste surprisingly familiar. You have to be willing to open to the experiences Manchevski offers here, and that openness provides entry to an extraordinary examinaion of life & death - all wrapped in breathtaking cinematography and liquified timelines. If you're looking for a snack, skip this one. But if you're really hungry for something provocative that relentlessly insists on savoring, not sampling - check it out. You'll think about it and talk about it, and remember it.

This art house production was funded by lottery UK money, which is unusual in itself. Another aspect again that is out of sorts, is that the film originates from Macedonia and so does the director Milcho Manchevski. 'Dust' is a highly original and almost subversive take on the usual Western themes and at times reminded me of the very strange 'El Toppo' (by Jodorowsky). As a movie it's quite incomparable and to it's advantage has none of the pretensions that curse many independent pictures. The narration by an old lady jumps back and forth, right through the generations and contains some excellent battle scenes; that sometimes are hyper realistic and others pure fantasy. Out on a limb.

To those who gave this film a negative review, you obviously missed the point! This film was meant to have an "everyman" feel to it. This is why the characters seem to be clichéd! They are meant to be. This movie is subtle, and requires an intellect to truly appreciate what it is trying to say. The viewer is given a rich, tapestried view of the 20th century, from its birth to its waning years. The movie also takes us not only across the century, but around the world, through the growth of global transportation. I found it fascinating and compelling, and had no trouble following the narrative. It is a film that you must give yourself to, and trust the writer and director to answer all your questions as the film progresses, and he does. Manchevski is a true artist. I would also watch this film just for Adrian Lester's amazing performance. It is a treat to see him on screen, it doesn't happen often enough. Don't listen to the naysayers, SEE THIS FILM!

`Dust' is a movie filled with blood, guts, death, doom and despair. In fact, one would be hard pressed to think of a movie with a more depressing story line than this one. The body count is very high, and you can believe it when I say no one dies pretty in this movie. So, you don't want to watch it during dinner.

The basic plot is that of two cowboy brothers during the late 1900s; one of a good heart, and one with not such a good heart. However, there are a multitude of sub stories which finally come together in the end. It's just getting to the ultimate tie in at the end of the movie, without getting somewhat confused, that's hard. The story is told from the point of view of an old woman, living in the present day, in flashback form, as she describes events that took place at the turn of the last century. Every few minutes, the story line shifts from character to character and time to time. These constant jumps make the movie a bit hard to keep up with, and is the main flaw in the film.

Even though the movie is confusing, it does all come together in the end. And at the end, one feels a certain satisfaction when that little `aw, now I get it' light comes on; and that little light makes `Dust' almost worth watching.

Every now and then there is a movie that is beyond evaluation. There is no logical reason why this film should have such an impact, but it does. You are part of the story without even realizing it until the credits roll by at the end. Then all you can do is sit there.

A dying old lady dying in today's world tells a tale of two brothers in the old west who cross paths and purposes as in most families. We have loved, and bullies, and wars. What seems like a fantastic tale that intrigues the listener turns out to be more real than he imagined. Now the listener is on a mission part of which is to carry on the story. And you must carry it from there.