I am a fan of science fiction, both in written word and film. I have been trying to broaden my scope by watching science fiction films from around the world, so when my friend mentioned that the Pacific Film Archive was showing an obscure modern Russian science fiction film called "Under Electric Clouds", I jumped at the opportunity, despite a few very negative reviews. After all, critics are often wrong. While I have no regrets, in this case, the critics were right. I believe I used the term "horrid" as we left.
Normally, in my reviews, this is where I put the basic plot points. I have nothing for you. I have absolutely no clue what the movie was about. There were several small stories, sort of intertwined, possibly taking place at various points in time that may or may not have overlapped. One was about an immigrant. One had kids on drugs. One was about two siblings returning home after their father died. It was likely deeply existential and full of subliminal meaning, but damned if I could make heads nor tails of it. To make matters worse, the dialog and acting was so stilted and so passive that more than one person in the audience found themselves drifting off to sleep. Several simply walked out.
The saving grace to this film was the cinematography. There were some beautiful shots that were evocative and intriguing. But the rest was sadly not science fiction and too obscure to resonate with even the most cultured film snobs, though it might play better with a Russian audience. It is safe to say, this one will not be joining the collection at this time.
