Depressing movies

I was convince by my friend Ayuna to watch the old Soviet movie "Stalker" by the acclaimed director Andrei Tarkovsky.

This was a movie which she claimed would change the way I think about cinema.  It was a movie that apparently had a reputation of being one of the great masterpieces of global cinema.

It was a struggle.

It was undoubtedly a beautifully shot and directed movie, but the pace was glacial and the dialogue intense.  As a movie to be watched by friends after dinner, it was not something which made us laugh with delight.  It was more a movie to be admired in an art house cinema or to be viewed by a friends from a book club.

We all walked away from the movie like we had completed a marathon (the movie was of course very long).

As one friend said, this was for him akin to going to a funeral, he didn't enjoy himself but he's glad he went.

I like watching movies, but I think I lean towards his thinking.