It’s common for films to be described as ‘breathtaking’ or that they ‘will take your breath away’. I’ve never had a film do that to me, ever. Not until now, anyway.
Anna Melikyan’s award-winning 2007 Russian film Rusalka did that to me just now.
Rusalka meaning – approximately – ‘mermaid’ (though the original term is quite a bit richer than that), was an absolutely intriguing film, at times funny, sad, shocking, surreal and even grotesque. For that alone, it’s a delicious morsel, well worth your attention.
I won’t spoil the particular and amazing cinematic moment that so astonished me. It’s right near the end of the film, and if you’ve seen it, you know exactly which moment I’m referring to. Let’s not spoil it for others, either, hmm?
A scant couple of seconds of the movie literally left me open-mouthed and breathless in front of the screen, and no film has ever done that to me.
Rusalka is in Russian, and suffers not at all from subtitling (in my opinion), though I imagine if Russian is among your languages, the audio track will likely not disappoint either.
Darned movie ain’t coming to the U.S. until January. (._.)
Adding it to my Amazon.com wish list, though. =^-^=