Daddy, Father Frost Is Dead

The film, Daddy, Father Frost is Dead, released the year of the collapse of the USSR, reflects the problems of perestroika and the feeling of hopelessness that swept over the Soviet people of that time. The tape is almost mute: basically the viewer hears only sounds, not speech. It’s as if the characters are trying to speak up about something, but they cannot (one character is an actual mute). The film is slow, meditative, and somewhat reminiscent of the manner of Andrei Tarkovsky and Aleksei German.

Daddy, Father Frost is Dead tells the story of an obsessive scientist who witness a number of strange, horrifying events. Filmed with low quality, darkly colored film stock and filled extended long shots and listless acting, this movie is both puzzling and disturbing to watch. Avoiding any closure or explanation of the plot, this film will leave you thinking about it for some time.

• 1990s
• English subtitles
• Soviet Union