Popular reviews

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  Review by St. Sebastian ★★★½

  A cold-blooded neo-noir story set in post-war Lithuania, exploring three intertwined fates bound into complex moral, ideological, and romantic conflicts. In my opinion, this is Aleksas Kazanavicius' one of the most impressive performances yet, portraying a character pushed to the brink of a nervous breakdown and succumbing to paranoia and a sense of helplessness.

  The film's portrayal of both the WW2 and Cold War periods is gritty and bleak, adding to its overall impact. The protagonist grapples with feelings of guilt for past crimes against humanity while also dealing with the possibility of their statute of limitations. Will there be any redemption? Is it even necessary? And how quickly can one be morally destroyed? These questions are thoughtfully explored throughout the film.

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  Review by claira curtis ★★★

  A Cold War tale dissecting the carnivorous guilt brought on by totalitarian actions. A fascinating watch in what it seeks to speak on and in terms of technical achievement. 

  The opening sequence, a long shot that tracks our moving characters during a recreation of a real life massacre, is utterly gut wrenching to see and listen to. The sound mixing throughout the film is absolutely unreal and evokes a great deal of emotion. Cinematography as a whole feels staggeringly impressive. There is a lot to praise within Isaac, especially in the context of it being a directorial debut. 

  I struggled, however, with following the plot closely. I think that was more a personal problem than anything else but there were quite a few times where I thought to myself, “wait, what’s happening?”.

  All the same, Isaac has enough to praise to warrant a watch of it. 

  Slamdance Watch #6

  2021 Ranked

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  Review by Julian ★★★★

  Absolutely outstanding debut. Recalls some of the greatest noir classics. was blown away by the cinematography and directing. Complex and very fascinating screenplay. Very grim. Bleak. PLEASE inject the entire soundtrack into my veins immediately.

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  Review by Shlykshtyne ★★★★

  Probably one of the first modern LIthuanian attempts are exploring and reflecting on historical guilt related to the Holocaust. And it turns out quite well, especially on the technical level - both the camera work and the effects are done quite well, especially given the context the movie is coming from.

  And yet, the narrative seems rushed in the last 20-30 minutes, which may leave some viewers, confused, annoyed and draw some criticisms of pretention as well without actually tackling some of the more important themes head on. The soundtrack is also awesome, but somebody should have told that post-punk/coldwave and other similar genres started more towards the end of 1970s, not during 1960s, which makes for a weird atmosphere in a movie even if the choice is understandable (those genres are hip now, after all). However, in the end it did not ruin the movie for me and it is a highly recommended watch.

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  Review by Linas J. ★★★★

  While I try not to get too caught up in that whole "well, it's alright for a Lithuanian film..." nonsense that my countrymen like to repeat, it's impossible not to compare this film to the mostly abysmal state of Lithuanian cinema.

  It's certainly a flawed piece of art, one that at times leaves a lot more to be desired. Too much of the dialogue is caught up in a somewhat unsuccessful attempt to constantly say something "profound" or "poetic", loaded so heavily with absurd metaphors and allegories that it comes across as plain silly at times. The editing also boggled my mind, though I reserve the thought that the occasional odd cut was perhaps intentional. But admittedly, beneath all the…

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  Review by Phil ★★★★½

  Keep an eye out for Jurgis Matulevičius! Gritty, thrilling, well-written, beautiful shot and with one of the most vivid soundtracks I've heard in a long time.

  
  „Izaokas is the debut film by Jurgis Matulevičius who, together with director Saule Bliuvaitė and director and philosopher Nerijus Milerius, also wrote the script based on Škėma's short story. When writing the script for the film, they consulted experts from various fields, such as psychologist Robertas Petronis, a lecturer at the Institute of Humanistic and Existential Psychology in Lithuania, psychologist Viktorija Vaišvilaitė and Katerina Rutkauskienė. They also took part in psychotherapeutic sessions in which family constellations were used to help the psychologists understand the relationship between the victim and the killer. They also worked…

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  Review by Ieva ★★★★★

  Went and watched it with zero expectations and only knew the fact that this is Jurgis’ debut film.
  Was beyond surprised and blown away by the first 10 minutes of it. One long tracking that sets the mood for the entire film we are about to watch. Grim, raw, ghastly and brutal… Cinematographer Narvydas Naujalis should be rightfully praised for his work. The only way i can describe what it feels like visually to me is “Emmanuel Lubezki and Tarkosvky became friends and decided to shoot a black and white film”.
  Absolutely stunning shots that pin you down to your seat. Lots of hand held shots that drive you to the edge of emotional distress. Then it suddenly cuts to…

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  Review by karolisd ★★★★½

  Ką daryti, kai adaptuojamoje knygoje trūksta konflikto - sugalvoti naują siužetą ir liepti veikėjams bare ginčytis, kad trūksta konflikto.

  Oskaro vertas filmas su labai įdomiu siužetu, tik norėtųsi, kad filmo fokusas to siužeto nepamestų (ypač filmo viduryje).

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  Review by J.P. Vitale ★★★★★

  This sort of thing is so my jam.

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  Review by Armandorcls612 ★★★★★

  I didn't expect to like this film as much as I did. It is a fantastic exercise in filmmaking. Intriguing, original, and challenging. My favorite thing was the hyperactive camera and how it guided the action, the amazing long takes, and the story itself was so interesting and I was completely invested from the intense opening long take until that haunting final shot.
  Highly recommended! I can't wait to see what this director does next!

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  Review by Gabriele ★★★½

  The First part is amazing: the shadows, the movement, the mood, it immerses one into Dante's circle of hell, at least in that script reading/corridor wandering scene. I feel like Škėma would be proud of that part of the adaptation. After that, the narrative goes all over the place and the magic is lost. Nevertheless, I appreciate how guilt of collaborating with Nazis is presented. Advanced for Lithuanian cinema.

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  Review by crystal ★★★★★

  just came back from a screening with the makers of this film and the producer went: "one of the most popular questions related to this film is what does the colored part of the movie symbolize?" *pause* "it was done on purpose to portray a character's inner world..." and then one of the writers just goes: "there was no meaning, actually. the director just thought that some scenery would look prettier in color and it would be a waste to film it in b&w." and the producer goes "yeah *laughs* we tried to rationalize that part of the movie to the viewers but then just gave up *laughs*" "you should never try to please the viewers" and yeah anyways that's cinema....