Although certainly low-budget, a beautifully shot movie that provides a handful of scenes you'd never seen in a domestic flick (e.g. running down the staircase, the cigarette lighters in the train station). Should be a lesson to our blockbuster directors of what can be accomplished if one thinks a bit. It's a hard story to watch. And certainly fast-forwards time a bit (with some not too clear flashbacks and foreshadowings), but worth the effort if you enjoy a good, if a bit melodramatic, story.