Sharunas Bartas' Three Days is a staggering work of art that pays little mind to the traditional rules of cinema or narrative, delivering a spellbinding film of immense sadness. The film is centered around a group of four young individuals, two Lituanian boys and two Russian girls, who meet in Kaliningrad, a decaying city that has been ravaged by time, still baring the marks of World War II. There is no backstory to these characters, with Bartas refusing to spell anything out for the viewer, instead Three Days is the type of film that one must allow to simply wash over them, as it exudes an overwheming sense of dread to the hopelessness of these individulas, who are struggling to find a place to stay. While Bartas' true intentions may not be abundantly clear, Three Days is unequivocally a powerful and profound film of transcience, speaking to the fleeting nature of youth, with time being the ultimate equalizer for all things. These characters are all sarching for some meaning in their lives, unable to find purpose in this city, much like the small town they are from. The relationships and ambitions of these characters are vague and ambiguous, but Three Days is a deeply empathetic film towards these individuals, that seem fixated on the importance of the individual to find a place where they feel they belong, There is a great exchange in the film between one of the Lithuanian boys and a vagabond in which he proclaims that "the soul punishes the self not god", with the film capturing the self-desructive power sadness and negativity can have on our livelihoods. Three Days is a masterclass in cinematography that visually captures the isolation and loneliness of its characters through wide open spaces and urban decay. The dimly lit hallways these characters inhabit visually represent their sadness, with the desolated buildings symbolically representing their inability to find a purpose or meaning. While Bartas intentionally makes Three Days a film that is up to interpretation, the final shot provides some clarity of vision - a static shot of the Lithuatian boys small home in the country, showing the accelerated passing of seasons, visually capturing the transcient nature of life.
1 Comment
Osman Boylu
4/13/2021 12:07:49 pm
spoiler alert
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AuthorLove of all things cinema brought me here. Archives
June 2023
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