First Time Director and Cinematographer

When I read that this was their first film and all of the problems they had making it, I was even more impressed. I can't remember seeing such intense beauty visually, while experiencing character's pain. I think this film could be dissected a million ways and none would be wrong. I felt that so much of it was about hope and the realization that we all just assume certain things will happen. Whether it be faith, societal norms or simply our belief in humanity. All the characters were so human, so beautiful and all so fragile, despite their inner strength. The one odd omission is the feeling of true love. It's absent nearly the entire film, with one exception. I think the director and cinematographer's abilities to capture entire emotions in single shots was amazing. I'd actually heard of this film years ago, forgot all about it and while I'm trying to make my way through Sight and Sound's list of films I haven't seen, I saw this one. Truly beautiful.