Student film vibes

The Indiscreet Lack of Charm of Neo-nderthals:
                 a meditation on post-humanity


A modern adaptation of Ferreri’s La Grande Bouffe

The only commentary that this film successfully conveys is how shallow modern audiences have become. When I think of the truly authentic films that were overlooked this year in favor of this 2hr screensaver, my stomach drops. It’s well-constructed aesthetically with a great score, but is that really an accomplishment? Is a slight shift in approach to a worn out narrative really an achievement worthy of high praise? It’s not even a successful character study, if anything it’s merely a trailer of a half-realized cartoon character.

“Mankind was a tragic species, doomed perhaps from the very beginning.”

Following his work as assistant to Tarkovsky on Stalker, Lopushansky eventually went on to make his own Strugatsky backed sci-fi masterpiece. While similar to Tarkovsky’s Stalker aesthetically, Dead Man’s Letters is an entirely original film. A post-apocalyptic document of decay and uncertainty, one that will forever haunt me. 

“And love created art, an art which reflects our unbearable yearning for perfection, our immense despair, our endless cry of terror...”