The Asthenic Syndrome

The Asthenic Syndrome is a 1989 Russian film that, unfortunately, did not resonate with me. While I can appreciate the film's artistic vision and the unique approach it takes to its subject matter, I found myself struggling to engage with the story and the characters.

Directed by Kira Muratova, the film explores the lives of everyday people in Soviet Russia, portraying their struggles with grief, alienation, and despair. While I respect the film's attempt to delve into complex themes, I found the narrative structure and pacing to be disjointed and slow-moving, making it difficult to stay invested in the story.

Likewise, I struggled to connect with the characters, who often came across as emotionally distant and difficult to relate to. While this may have been intentional on the part of the filmmakers, it made it difficult for me to fully engage with the story.

That being said, I can appreciate the film's bold artistic vision and the way in which it explores complex themes through a unique lens. The cinematography and visual style of the film are often striking and visually arresting, adding an extra layer of depth and meaning to the story.

Overall, I cannot personally recommend The Asthenic Syndrome, as it did not resonate with me on an emotional or intellectual level. However, I recognize that others may find more value in the film's artistic merits and unique approach to storytelling.

At some point in the film we see some of the characters trying to compose living love-making sculptures by using real nude bodies as a way of distraction, escapism and also redemption from the reality, and looking at the entire Asthenic Syndrome, it seems that Kira Muratova is creating a chaotically pulsating sculpture of the Soviet Union during perestroika, adding in a mosaic like made of vortexes, the fears, the insecurities, the weaknesses and the physical and moral instability of a nation crippled by the hardness of a totalitarian regime followed by its needed but painful deconstruction, which implies the sacrifice and the dilute of generations exposed to its toxicity; the state like a wrecked vessel adrift on a sea of sadness is sinking slowly in its apathy, quaking only when frustrations burst into crisis of raw aggression aimed blindly towards people or animals, and a seal of opaqueness seems to keep everyone in a state of voidness of all hopes, morals and ideals; the youths are acting bluntly and disrespectfully, the older are decrepit and without any guidance power over the generation they have to nurture; the whole country has become and insane asylum as Muratova herself voices: "My country had reached bankruptcy and there was nowhere else for it to go. Everything had to burst!"

Russian Mike Leigh's Naked, even more straight-in-the-face, even more disturbing and more poetic though painfully honest.

Truly full-blooded cinema, although astonishing in its hyperrealism and - if I may - psychological gore.

Also, probably the only film made by woman which cannot be referred to as a "film made by woman".

Highly recommended for M.Leigh's fans, plus - for some reason it feels logical - viewers interested in WongKarWai, MikeFiggis, maybe Jon Jost. However, I have to admit - whereas being close in its impact to WKW's Happy Together, it's not as romantic as Chungking Express/FallenAngels, hardly as nostalgic as Days of Being Wild and definitely different in many ways being compared to nearly anything either Figgis or Jost have ever done. ;-)