Kdosda_Hegen

I waited many years for this film, and it did not disappoint me after finally seeing it. Romas Zabarauskas has once again proved that he is an excellent and severely underappreciated, often misunderstood director. While a few tiny bits of the dialogue feel forced or use artificial vocabulary, those are very few and far between as overall the film has a very tight script. The film has a true mature portrayal of a relationship, that most films only wish to have. An ending, to such a heavy film, having a light comedic touch is rather an odd choice, yet unsurprising knowing who this comes from, but I respect it.

A lot of the characters were dubbed. The whole idea is sort of like a Cloud Atlas wanna-be, but with an opposite moral. The title of the film is quite misleading I would say, and so is the cover. They put the most famous actors on the front of the cover, but they are merely the side characters. I kind of disagree with the message the film is trying to convey, and the whole narrative and progression are done in a rather convoluted manner, but I found most of it fascinating. The score is pompous and from the visual sense, everything looks awful and quite good simultaneously. The film clearly had a low budget and it feels like most of it was filmed in front of a green screen, and it all looks so fake and cheap, but a lot of it looks surprisingly good, especially in comparison to other sci-fi films with low budget.

The art style of it is so dry and boring. Environments mostly consist of dull colouring. Almost all of the characters are revoltingly ugly. The whole film is just disgusting to look at in the visual sense. It uses very realistic animation to such a degree that it is closer to real life than a standard animated film, and the characters are so hideous. It arouses revulsion while watching it, I can't imagine kids loving it for how this film looks visually. Certainly, I was not too fond of it as a kid. And I get it, in many Westerns, characters are filthy and disgusting and this film is like a parody of your average Western, but it comes to my 2nd point.

Who is this film made for? The kids certainly will not recognise most if not any of the references to the classic Western films. And except for one scene, this film is too lacklustre for adults watching this for references and nostalgia alone. When it comes to jokes this film is too inappropriate for kids, the adult jokes are not even subtle in the slightest and I can see plenty of kids being disgusted or scared by the film. But simultaneously the film is way too silly and primitive for adults.

The protagonist is not only unlikeable but severely creepy as well.

But despite all the underwhelming aspects of the film, I can praise its beginning, the first 20 minutes or so are quite original and interesting. And I like that "Western spirit" encounter, even though it's a shame that it was not Clint Eastwood who voiced the character. And I can definitely praise the action scenes, due to the super realistic animation and art style they look quite real and awesome. So overall the film is a mixed bag.