(Про уродов и людей, Pro urodov i lyudey)
Directed by Alexei Balabanov
88 minutes
In Russian with English subtitles

A high-pitched fusion between eroticism and strict classicism results in this wildly perverse charmer by Russian director Alexi Balabanov (Brat). His approach is playful, starting the narrative as if it were an early film before sound, including inter-titles, but soon a soundtrack kicks in and then the rest of the movie is drenched in sepia monochrome - the color of old 19th century photographs. The story is set in St. Petersburg at the turn of the last century, and follows the activities of a mysterious basement photographer, who is actually a secret pornography trafficker who enters the homes of two upper-class families to make erotic pictures. When we say 'pornography' here, we mean old-school French style pornography—elegant kinky photographs involving nudity and light masochistic scenarios.

Parallel to this absurd story about perversion and power, there is a parallel story involving the birth and raising of oriental 'siamese twins' that are joined at the hip. The entire film has an off-beat, quirky dark humour, and director Alexei Balabanov was always known for being a bit of a rascal, a provocateur.

The film is so bizarre everyone has to figure out for themselves what it means. One interpretation—it is a depiction of pre-Soviet tsarist Russia, commenting on the decadence of the ruling class as it slides into excess wealth and perversion. But then again, some viewers see this film in a totally different way—as a reflection of post-Soviet Russia during the 90s (which makes sense, since that is when the film was made) when exploitation was everywhere, and ethics were swept away for the sake of profit. Others see it as being about the birth of cinema, and still others feel it's about the collision of Russian and European cultures.

As this macabre film goes along there are several subplots, including a hidden love story, but I will let all that unfold for itself. A piercing movie about the pornography underneath the surface of the modern world, with cinematography that renders St. Petersburg in a haunting light, all set to the music of Prokofiev and Mussorgsky.