Winter Journey

Bleak...grim...violent...intense...and, freezing.

Not one character would you want to meet on a dark night...or, a bright day for that matter. Wholly, horrible people.

As a story, it gets nowhere fast, straddles straggling storylines...and then, in the final third, falls flat on its face. There's a drug and drag scene thrown in...for what seems the hell of it.

There is under-acting and over-acting - by the two central characters - in abundance. Dogs disappear and fur coats appear mysteriously.

You can almost hear the directors saying....oooh that looks good, oooh that's a great idea...and throwing everything they possibly can at the screen - whether it makes sense or not.

There is one poignant scene...a young man's working life is a choice between lung cancer or skin cancer...this grim reality is the direction the film should have taken, especially when pitted the squandered success of the other character...sadly it veers off to the more theatrical, art-indulgent route.

Not a pleasant film by any stretch of the imagination...still, it shows what can be produced not only on a limited budget...but, with Russia's current, homophobic climate...it couldn't have been easy making a gay-themed film. And for that, it has to be admired.

Trailer...