Hard to be a God, the first 1 h 45 min.
If you ever want to earn mega super ultra hipster points for watching a movie, this is the one for you. It's a 3 hour long, black and white, Russian experimental narrative medieval science fiction movie. Sounds like a lot? Well it is. It's based on a book from 1964, and is at least in principle about a planet similar to earth where the renaissance never happened, and the world is stuck in the dark ages. And I mean dark. A team of explorers from Earth arrived on the planet to do... I'm not exactly sure if it's been specified so far actually. The movie takes place some time (presumably 10-20 years) after the expedition, and follows mostly a man named Don Rumata, one of the original explorers who's declared himself a god and is ruling over the populace as a baron of sorts.
That synopsis is already more plot than what actually happens in the film. This is not a traditional film or a narrative by any stretch. It's almost closer to a mood piece, one where you just take in the atmosphere rather than follow any particular characters or events. It's shot almost like POV documentary footage, with things constantly blocking the frame, people walking past and looking into the camera. Aside from Don Rumata there basically are no named characters that matter. The dialogue is almost completely nonsensical, where sentences often don't even connect to what was previously said. Things do happen, but they don't build on one another. There is no clear sequence of events. The camera just sort of drifts around following Don Rumata, taking in whatever's happening wherever he goes, often pausing for long stretches to look at completely inconsequential and/or random things. There are brief snippets of voiceover to do some worldbuilding and establish character motivations, but those are like peeks through a keyhole to a large room.
Visually and audiowise this is one of the most repulsive films I've ever experienced, and it's 100% meant to be. You feel like you can catch several diseases just by watching this film. In every scene people are constantly sniffling, coughing, spitting, sneezing, wiping snot or some likewise filth with their hands. Every location looks and feels damp, sweaty, soggy, cramped, cold, muddy and just generally unpleasant. Everybody looks diseased, scarred, pestilent, repulsive and like they've never taken a bath in their entire life. Most of the movie is shot in middle closeups, making almost every scene feel like a claustrophobic nightmare. This makes Monty Python and the Holy Grail's depiction of medieval England look like Excalibur. If the movie were doing any kind of A to B narrative at all it would be unbearably repugnant to watch. But because the movie is (despite the way it's shot) so far removed from trying to evoke any kind of emotion in the viewer or having them care about any characters, it retains enough distance to where it's somewhat tolerable.
Despite earlier saying that the movie is essentially devoid of story, Don Rumata is still a fascinating character to watch. He just seems so dead inside, so filled with contempt for everything and everyone around him. He has absolutely zero regard for anyone, and probably not even himself. He's not a monster, more of a passive observer who just "uhuh"-s his way around everything. He does whatever the fuck happens to cross his mind at any given moment. He has well and truly given up, which is what the title of this movie is alluding to.
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