A Gentle Creature

Putting a Grimm slant on a Dostoevskian fable, Sergei Loznitsa exposes the Russian soul to pitiless scrutiny in this gruelling odyssey. It begins with a dash of bureaucratic satire, as petrol pump attendant Vasilina Makovtseva can't understand why a parcel she had sent to her husband in a Siberian jail has been returned unopened. But the action becomes increasingly oppressive when she travels to the town where her spouse has been incarcerated. Nobody is willing to help Makovtseva, as she encounters a cynical landlady, a scheming pimp, some hapless human-rights activists and all manner of obstructive men in uniform. Thanks to the meticulous production design and cinematography, it seems as though Makovtseva has gone back in time, allowing Loznitsa to consider the role of crime and punishment over a century of Russian history. But this is very much the sinister present and, if Loznitsa pushes his luck with a hideous peak into a rapacious future, his vision remains forbiddingly dystopian.