Review of The Dust of Time (2008) by Zoran S — 22 Mar 2010

Very minor Angelopoulos. It's the only film of his that I've seen that feels rushed and hurried and his theatrical self-reflexivity a bad fit with the material. Moreover, much of its visual style diverges from his prior films: medium shots dominate and there is even some cross-cutting (!!!!) to save screen time.

No doubt, Angelopoulos wanted a more immediate look for the film to fit its story. The problem, however, is that the personal and the historical don't marry very well at all here: the love triangle and the history of exiles shown here from the death of Stalin to Europe in 1999 don't connect in any real emotionally resonate way.

There are some powerful sequences here, such as when a town honors Stalin's death, but this is more a series of fragmented sketches than anything else. It also looks to be shot on HD (and not especially well at times) though the website says 35mm.

Perhaps it will improve on a second viewing.