A loving film tribute to Russian filmmaker Larisa Shepitko, who died tragically in a car accident in 1979 at the age of 40. This documentary by her husband, Elem Klimov, includes excerpts from all of Shepitko's films, and her own voice is heard talking about her life and art. Elem Klimov's grief-stricken elegy Larisa examines the life of his late wife—the film director Larisa Shepitko—through a series of direct-address interviews and photomontages, set against a mournful visual-musical backdrop. Typically, Klimov films his subjects (which include himself and several of Shepitko's collaborators) within a stark, snow-covered forest, its tangled web of trees standing in as metaphorical representation of a perhaps inexpressible suffering, the result of Shepitko's premature death while filming her adaptation of Valentin Rasputin's novella Farewell to Matyora. Interweaving home movie footage with sequences from Shepitko's work (Maya Bulgakova's pensive plane crash reminiscence from Wings takes on several new layers of resonance in this context), Larisa's most powerful passage is its first accompanied by the grandiose final music cue from Shepitko's You and I, Klimov dissolves between a series of personal photographs that encompass Larisa's entire life, from birth to death. This brief symphony of sorrow anticipates the cathartic reverse-motion climax of Klimov's Come and See, though by placing the scene first within Larisa's chronology, Klimov seems to be working against catharsis. The pain is clearly fresh, the wound still festering, and Klimov wants—above all—to capture how deep misery's knife has cut.
The film (and the acting) is superbly done, but the story is intense. I like it for its' dark, thick, "Cul du Sac" psychology but it is certainly not for everyone for that very reason. Set in isolated, rural France makes this film all the more desperate.
The film is about strenuous relationships, loyalty - and despair. It is about accepting hardships without really understanding them. It is also about pity and how it is to be distinguished from love and admiration. I've seen many French films with the same intensity and I'm guessing that it will be mostly the French who will enjoy this film.
The acting is superb in this film – if you're in the right state of mind and don't loose your concentration. Jean-François Stevenin ALWAYS impresses me. He doesn't disappoint me here either. For general audiences, however, I'd recommend his performance in "Deux Lions au Soleil" which is much more easily palatable than "Peux de Vaches".
Despite the fact that I like "Peux de Vaches", I have difficulties recommending it to anyone other than French audiences and perhaps someone with a morose demeanor.
Latin History for Morons: John Leguizamo's Road to Broadway captures John's quest to cram 3,000 years of history into 90 minutes of stage time and bring a whole new set of historical characters back to life as one man. Infused throughout the documentary is John's special brand of humor and openness. The road to his ultimate goal - his next Broadway hit - unfolds in a fun, intri...