burnt by the film

hmm, highly questionable title for a blog entry, but just wanted to lavish some praise on one of my favourite films of all time, which I saw again last night. Nikhita Mikhalkov's Burnt By The Sun starts out as if it were a Bergmanesque pastoral, all wacky aristocrats romping in and around a beautifully shot Carl Larsson-style dacha, with some Soviet-era spice thrown in for surreal good measure - and it's only gradually that the film reveals itself as an extraordinarily menacing, and moving, political/psychological thriller. Fantastic pacing, and even after watching it three times, hugely disturbing and tension-inducing.

Last night's entertainment makes me think about spoilers too - it's difficult to read much about this film, including the back of the DVD, without being told crucial plot information which is not revealed until about two thirds of the way in and radically changes the experience of watching it. (Don't follow too many links on imdb or wikipedia either if you don't want to know.) Is it only me who thinks there should be a law against this? Novels are just as bad, and I expend a good deal of effort on avoiding catching sight of the backs of books until I've finished reading them. grrrr . . . .