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5/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 5/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Sobytiya v Sent-Lui remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you like movies that feel like they were dug out of a basement after forty years, you’ll probably find something to love here. It’s for the folks who don’t mind a bit of grit on the lens and long, quiet pauses. If you need a movie to keep you awake with constant motion, skip it. You will hate it. 😴
Sobytiya v Sent-Lui isn't interested in holding your hand. It drops you into this world and expects you to figure out the social hierarchy on your own. It feels dusty, honestly. Like a book you find in a garage.
There’s a scene near the middle where two characters are just standing by a fence. They don’t really say anything for, I don’t know, maybe a solid minute? It’s awkward, but in a way that feels real. You can tell the director was more interested in the way the light hit the dirt than in moving the story forward.
Ivan Kozlov has this look in his eyes throughout the whole thing—it’s like he’s tired of his own character's choices. It works, though. It keeps the tension low but constant.
It reminds me a bit of the pacing in Predatel, where the silence is usually doing more heavy lifting than the actors. You have to be in the mood for it, or you’ll find yourself checking your phone every five minutes.
The cinematography is… well, it’s not flashy. It’s very functional. Sometimes the camera lingers on a doorway for way too long, almost like the cameraman forgot to yell cut. But I kind of liked that. It gives the film a weird, slightly broken rhythm that you don't get in modern, polished studio junk.
Is it a masterpiece? No. Is it something I’ll remember next week? Probably not. But it felt honest. It didn't try to be something it wasn't, which is more than I can say for most things I watch these days. 🎥