I am astonished (and a little outraged) at the critical raves this unexceptional film has garnered.
The film is long and boring, frankly. The primary characters are somewhat generic and angsty. Much of the action feels naturalistic but also unfocused and improvised in a way that recalls the worst of the mumblecore films -- I primarily recall an interminable scene of the protagonist yelling and pounding on his nemesis' door over and over (with the nemesis never opening it, aka nothing happens). Both my GF and I anticipated the twist that happens with the protagonist's primary revenge scheme. It's terribly one-note: the entire movie centers around one conflict, with the no other threads, themes, or subplots to speak of. And the characters and their plights never seemed really compelling.
It is a debut film, and from '95. I do appreciate the tone of semi- realism and the strength of conviction in a lot of the acting. There's also a nihilistic approach that shows narrative maturity, although the ending really isn't anything to write Shakespeare about. It has a lot of the components of a good film.
Overall, I wish I'd skipped it. It's an admirable achievement esp to have completed this movie without digital tools, but movies of this caliber are commonplace today. It is far from "blazingly provocative" (Rolling Stone) and "a drama of extraordinary power" (Chicago Tribune). To see such raves lavished on this film only emphasizes the subjective nature of these critics and the way good movies (especially foreign ones) are ignored.