Synopsis
Set in 1949 on a remote farm near a nuclear testing site, Dina is living a quiet, unremarkable life with her father until two suitors enter her life.
Set in 1949 on a remote farm near a nuclear testing site, Dina is living a quiet, unremarkable life with her father until two suitors enter her life.
Ispytanie, Le Souffle, 测试, 草原の実験, 測試
Dialogue is an extremely important tool in the screenwriter's handbook, and often times can be a rather big barrier of entry in order for a movie to be enjoyable by the masses. Wes Anderson's Isle of Dogs plays does an excellent job of exploring this difficulty in understanding as a primary plot element, purposefully obfuscating the meaning of the Japanese dialogue (in essence about half the script) from the audience, including in the subtitles, to help hammer in the movie's theme of trying to find understanding across divisions.
Test is a movie that decides to throw this critical element out the window, and shockingly enough, manages to come out the other end having done it with a story more gracefully…
I can’t get enough of steppe cinema. There is something uncanny about that terrain; the complete and utter lack of obstacles, the freedom to gallop in any direction for as many miles as you wish to travel, where horsepower meets the infinitude of the ocean. Test takes place somewhere in remote Kazakhstan, and the landscape does not disappoint the eye. It’s also completely free of dialogue, though I hesitate to call it experimental — the style is transcendental, but much more linear than, say, Tarkovsky. For many years this was only available on VK, but recently the kind folks at Tubi have made it accessible for the cost of a few minutes of mobile game commercials.
This is one of the most beautiful movies I've ever seen. It is absolutely gorgeous, and even with no dialogue the characters resonate emotionally in a way that's difficult to describe. Criminally underexposed.
It took me ages to figure out where to watch this. It's crazy how difficult it is to find, considering how good it is. I'm a little perplexed looking at Kott's other filmography, but I guess everyone goes on an arthouse kick every once in a while.
Test is really gorgeous. It's hands-down one of the best shot films I've seen from the 21st century, bolstered by equally excellent sound design and a daring, dialogue-less screenplay. It's a little bit derivative -- not at all difficult to see where Tarkovsky's shadow is looming into frame with respect to each of these successes -- but it's hard to fault it too much for that when it does it so well.
I'm…
my first kazakhstanian movie, i guess.
it's great. maybe a little ponderous at times, but...i mean, i know i run the risk of sounding a bit like a wet wanker in saying this, but it's hypnotic and really weirdly ... enchanting.
i've never used the word enchanting in my life, i'm pretty sure. please don't hold that against me.
but i kinda feel like there's no other word that suits it as well.
& it's also sad & weird & disturbing.
whatever. i thought this was fucking great. it's on tubitv, and if it's the only movie from kazakhstan i ever watch, then at least it was a pretty good one.
Cabe la posibilidad de considerar el final del film súbito, algo desligado de la trama principal, y no convenientemente elaborado. De hecho, la sinopsis de esta app ya da más detalles de las que el director está dispuesto a dar de forma evidente. También tiene un primer acto que se demora un poco en arrancar, y es una pena, porque una vez en marcha tiene un tramo central deslumbrante.
Pero esos problemas vienen mayormente del guión, no de la apuesta de hacer un largometraje sin diálogos que es, en sí misma, loable, y que tiene algunas secuencias impecables, algunas ideas visuales brillantes y una fotografía magnífica.
Así que no os quejéis si os obligan a hacer un corto sin diálogos, chic@s, que el vuestro solo tiene que durar tres minutos.
Отменно снятое кино без слов, каждый кадр просится в рамочку. При этом больше похоже на музыкальный клип, чем на фильм условного Малика. Хотя для режиссера "Елок" это – несомненное достижение.
Cine antropológico con pompa visual y ausencia de diálogos. Sublime hasta un explosivo final que rompe el gesto (de los espectadores y, a mi juicio, de la película).
Continuing my mission to show this underexposed gem to as many people as possible.
This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.
My favorite part is when they all died and this awful movie was finally over.
Seriously guys, don’t be afraid to dislike a film just because it‘s „artsy.“ While I commend the film on making an attempt at something unique (i.e. no spoken dialogue,) it ultimately failed. There was very little plot, the characters were stale, and the actions half the time were not engaging. As a result, the ending and message just seemed cliche.
Aesthetics and style with no substance does not equate to a good film.