A young scientist comes to a research institute as an intern and is given charge of a department investigating an area of particular interest to him. Associated with each of us a force field has been discovered, and instrumentation has been set up to measure its strength. It is not clear what this field represents, nor is clear the significance of its strength, which varies with the experimental subject. The intern has nonetheless computed a theoretical maximum value of 977, and despite frustrations is undeterred in his investigation, in contrast to the institute director and others, who have varied character and motivations. Certain events take place indicating to us characteristics of this force, both universal and profound as well as an elusiveness. An avid art-house enthusiast may recognize Ekaterina Golubeva, actress and collaborator (co-wrote A Casa) in films by Lithuanian film director Sharunas Bartas, noted for a certain opaqueness, but the director here is not harsh on the viewer. A second viewing revealed what escaped me the first time. It became obvious what the film is about (I won't spoil it but your first guess is probably correct) and where closure is not intended. The lack of closure is part of the genius of this film. I may add that a commercial release has subtitles in both Russian and English, and English subtitles are available separately. I may also add that French film director Leos Carax (Pola X with lead actress Ekaterina Golubeva) has a small part in 977.
