Roads To Koktobel

At times rather good, overall rather uneven, 2003 picture from Boris Khlebnikov and Aleksei Popogrebsky
use of a variety of styles; handheld shuffling, static plan-americain long takes, comic small characters in an absurdist vein; it generally sticks to these three, and each is fine on their own, but it would be hard to say they gel
for example, the Renoir-influenced long takes of two or three (deepish focus) are fine, nice humanist cinema, but the lack of camera movement and the rather square mis en scene mean that there isn't much outside the camera; making the next cut a little surprising, unnecessarilly
there is also a bit of shot/reverse stuff, which is rather a non-sequiter
this film also jumpds about in tone, with absurdist elements mixed with a realist bent, and then attempts at pictorialism
the brooding will never work; it's far too light
the narrative, as far as their is one, again has an episodic feel, which isn't a problem in itself, but does exacerbate the overall jumpiness
each scene in this is (usually) interestingly shot, adding something new, and perfectly impressive on its own. Without being able to really connect though, and with no thematic or narrative to cut through it, the entire film appears a little slight