Rhinocéros

In my opinion this is quite a remarkable piece of storytelling. Dark, brutal - very, very brutal - but never quite bleak. You see the humanity that is - or, at least was - in the central character and you hope he can find some kind of salvation. Will he find redemption, or sink deeper into the quagmire of his life. Or will justice catch up with him? No spoilers...

This is the kind of film I usually hate. They often portray a fantasy criminal world, with a 'good guy' who lives happily ever after, or portray the the criminals as the dregs of society and you don't care what happens to them. This movie manages to be completely different and keeps you interested right to the end.

I'm glad I liked this film. Sentsov became something of a hero to me after his imprisonment (even though I'm too old to have heroes and he would hate to be a hero to anyone). He's a man of intelligence, integrity and courage, and I'm looking forward to seeing more of his work.

As with any festival movie, if you don't want to waste time and disappoint yourself, you need to know exactly what to expect if you're going to watch it.

Nosorih doesn't have any deep meaning or plot behind it. But that's because it is an extremely realistic human story and a perfect showcase of the time period it is placed in.

For example, even the attempts of the main hero to talk about the sense of life are ridiculously awkward and laughable - but that's exactly the type of thoughts a man with his background is capable of.

Decorations and scenery, language and intonations, absence of morality and presence of extreme brutality, music and atmosphere overall perfectly represent Ukraine in the 90s.

I also really liked the ending, in my opinion this is exactly the choice a man like Nosorih could come up with while looking for salvation.

The plot quite precisely describes the life of Ukrainians in 90th. From the start you see all the nostalgic elements tastefully implemented in the movie.

I got stunned watching the movie with open mouth.

Minus one star just because at the beginning it was hard to follow, as they fast-forwarded the growing up time of the main character. I would love to see a bit more of that or have more explicit separation between the timeframes changing.

The ending didn't suit perfectly into the plot as for my opinion. That was rather symbolic and artistic solution, but definitely not something that could have happened in real life.

But overall, I am happy and proud to see what are the modern standards of Ukrainian cinematography.

Fortunate to see this at the Venice Film Festival and what a crazy ride. Forced to be up and close with characters in a world that has no breaks. Felt transported and loved every minute of it. Definitely not for the faint of heart.

A sad and bloody tale of the whole generation lost amid the ruins of Soviet Empire. As someone who happened to be a teenager during the 90's in Ukraine, I find the brutality of daily life and decaying environment to be very believable.

Good actors, a great director that offers no moral judgement, just a simple, easy to follow story about traumatized society.

This movie is not for everybody. If it didn't look like a documentary about my own life, I probably wouldn't have recommend it to anyone. If you meet a Ukrainian in their 40's or 50's and want to understand why they are the way they are, then watch this movie.