Three Sisters

Contrary to a lot of slow-paced arthouse films that squarely focus on the task of art for art's sake, Three Sisters is an accessible, humane film whose story feels like one of our own. Each of the three female protagonists follows a divergent path in life, yet find themselves in the same daily struggles against the heavy burden of living in the world, from dysfunctional families to spiritual crisis and personal illness. The genuineness of the portrait of their lives is what gives the film its strength and artistic quality, because it is often the most intimate and ordinary details of human life that resonate with us and move us deeply. And it is in those small vignettes of the downtrodden life of ordinary individuals, as one of the sisters, afflicted with the pain of cancer and poverty, quietly endures the suffering of life and tries to live with dignity, that we encounter the essence of our human condition. Arguably, that is the also the essence of an art movie.