Okraina

Having read the few other comments i have clearly missed most of the Russian cultural significance and jokes in this film. However, as a new zealander who enjoys all kinds of film i saw this at one of our festivals and absolutely loved it.

as mentioned in the title, to a non Russian eye it moved like slapstick in slow motion. Plenty of accessible deadpan, morose humour was on show as well as some great backdrops and scenery.

i particularly enjoyed the long close-up shot/scene on the farm four wheel motorcycle thing. funny how such a pastoral setting can become so surreal.

towards the end it seemed to change gear and moved quite quickly to black comedy and on into b-grade style action - with an explosion and getaway worthy of ed wood. amongst all this is still managed to be quite gripping and had me keyed in wondering how their quest would turn out.

If you liked this film I would suggest seeing:

American Astronaut, The Beaver Trilogy

Definitely worth a look if you like something a bit different. Jacob.

Definitely a decent movie. Unfortunately, if you are not Russian, you will find very little substance in it because it is choke-full of distinctly Russian cultural/folklore references, gags etc. that you have to be familiar with to understand. Peter Lutsik created a post-modern Russian fairy tale and enhanced it with imagery straight out of Soviet movies from 1930's. Certain parallells to Jim Jarmusch, particularly "Dead Man," can be drawn, with Lutsik's post-modern approach, the use of black and white film, and beautiful shots of Ural nature. Once again, good movie, but it's not for everyone.

It's a very hard movie,and I didn't really find any funny moments-it might be a very peculiar kind of humor which I really don't get.What can I say about Okraina?A very strange movie,somewhere a mix between Tarkovski(the overall mud),Tarantino(the fun of having someone's blood on its clothes),Kurosawa(the gang of men looking for justice),to say nothing about Dziga Vertov,Eisenstein in the expressionistic language.Despite this strange mixture,the movie remains a highly original,and illuminating in understanding why Bakunin,Stalin,the Ukrainian murderers in the Holocaust could exist.It is a movie who needs open-minded,and patient audience.What stunned me-it might be ironic,I hope,it's the collectivist happy end.So,if you love Tarantino,find Tarkovski breathtaking and have nihilistic thoughts,you will like.Others,try it,it might be alright.

Like the cheeky director, Petr Lutsik, this film has some wonderfully bizarre moments, (I think you may be able to label it as surreal). Four farm men hit the road on a journey to the big smoky city and fight the powers that be. A wicked tale about an insane country going through some heavy changes.

Okraina is an epic movie about family, land and patriotism. It's a pity this movie is little known in Russia. I wish it had the marketing budget of Nochnoi Dozor but sadly that kind of thing never happens.

I'm afraid that non-Russians won't understand the message of this movie, not to say of the cultural/folklore references. "Surreal slapstick" would be the most probable foreign viewer's reaction.

Grotesque at first sight, the movie is actually dead-serious. It appeals to deepest instincts of a Russian soul. Personally, I think this is number one most important movie shot in Russia in last 15 years.