Matadero cinco

After becoming enraptured with Vonnegut's strange and subversive Slaughterhouse-Five far too late in life I discovered that not only had a film been made, but had been spoken about gushingly by the great author himself so I endeavored to see it. It's a strange affair really - incredibly close to the narrative of the book but eschewing any and all elements of the witty commentary so it comes across as a kaleidoscope of images with very little dialogue even. If you'd never read the source I can't imagine how you begin to make sense of it. The book is so woven into Vonnegut's voice that detaching it from that feels more like a fascinating experiment or a curious visual companion piece than a solid adaptation in its own right.