Film Review: Hard to be a God (18) (Russia 2013) (Director: Aleksey German) (Russian with English Subtitles), Filmhouse, Screen Three, Edinburgh, Saturday 03.10.2015, 13:30

This is a film of epic proportions. From conception to completion the film took fifty years. The film is just shy of three hours though as with any very good film of epic length it is very well paced and never drags. The film essentially concerns a group of Russian scientists travelling to the planet Arkanar, which is still going through a period that we would understand as being medieval. The visitors are meant to be detached observers, though it's Hard to be a God...

The film starts on the alien world and has an unrelenting though steady momentum from start to finish. The films environment is stunningly realised and benefits greatly from the tactile black and white presentation. Most frames a crammed full of squalid, torturous, deformed and grotesque details, drenched in all manner of fluids. There have been entirely justified comparisons to the art of Hieronymus Bosch, and I think this is particularly apt when considering the Hell panel of his triptych 'The Garden of Earthly Delights' (1500). 

This is a film that rewards playing close attention, and it may be hard to follow if you don't. There are also parts of absurd humour which in ways reminded me of both the works of Monty Python, and Vivian Stanshall in the film version of 'Sir Henry at Rawlinson End' (1980). 

Some may find the film a bit grim, though the entire experience is so complete that it truly feels immersive. This is a film which will in no way appeal to a large audience, though there is no question that this is a cracking masterpiece.      

Rating: 10/10.