A tip for viewing


I'm a huge fan of this recently deceased Russian director, but I knew before seeing this that it would probably be near-incoherent plotwise, because his specialty is a particularly kind of flavorful, atmospheric chaos...NOT narrative clarity. So I read the early 1960s novel (easily available in English translation) first. It's not all that easy to follow, either, but it will give you a basic roadmap through what would probably otherwise seem an utterly bewilderingly if vivid medieval fantasia.

reply

I have the book on my kindle, I should have read it first before watching.

reply

[deleted]

I really wish that I had read the book before, because: "utterly bewilderingly if vivid medieval fantasia" was mostly what I came away with sadly..

reply

I hadn't read the book before watching the film, but I did reach a certain point in it where I realised that I wasn't supposed to be trying to follow the plot. In fact, I would say that there's a good argument for not reading the book beforehand in this case and instead just throwing yourself in there. Imagine being dropped into the middle of the a civil war in a country where you spoke the language but, beyond that, had no cultural reference points - that's what Hard to Be a God is like for someone without foreknowledge. I found it to be a pretty grand experience myself.

reply