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A tour-de-force by the leading actor who appeared in almost every scene. His performance in this interesting character study alone made the film well worth watching. Although the overall tone of the movie was a bit depressing, I enjoyed the dark humour in the first half. The supporting characters where great also, especially Marianne's, played by the always amazing Kathy Bates. This film addressed an emotion rarely explored to such an extent in cinema: grief. Not only did it show one man's way of coping with it, it showed how others react to the griever. It's something that we hope to never experience and the movie displayed the awkwardness others feel towards someone that has just suddenly lost a loved one. Similar to 'Leaving Las Vegas' in tone and the main character's self-destructiveness. Even though it has a depressing story, it wasn't a tear-jerker. A great movie.

I really liked this movie. It was a gangster crime movie, but in a totally different style than most American films. There was a good story and great visuals of Russia. I liked the fact that not everything had to be explained to the audience. The director assumed that we were able to think for ourselves, i.e.; the lead character's 'true' past in the army. I don't believe that he was "just a clerk at HQ". I saw the DVD version, and watched the interview with the director. The film is even more amazing considering the shoestring budget. He got his friends to perform some of the acting roles as well as write and play the music (which was quite good). This is a great gritty film. Its one of the more watchable movies from Russia that I have seen. I gave it a 7 out of 10. I plan to see 'Prisoner of the Mountain' next, can't wait.