One of my favorite best. Saw it when if first came out in theaters, and then saw it again and again... The film-making is very good, however the technical problems with camera work and poor quality of the film itself did not help. Slow and deliberate pacing at times this movie gets under your skin if you are paying attention. Open mind for this movie is a must. What makes this movie great is unbelievable social satire. In short, you got to see it several times to believe it. This movie forced critical thinking in USSR circa 1986, and it still makes you ponder things in US circa 2005. Dealing with humanistic topics such as social hierarchy, lowest common denominator, human resilience and so on, this movie should be recognized on par with the classics of Felini and Tarkovsky.