darcymoore A near-death experience gives Dr Perkov the ability to see and feel in the discordant dimension between life and the eternal grave. While the idea is by no means novel, enough new elements, and changes of pace and location, were included to maintain my interest. I particularly liked the exploration of the dysfunctional relationships between Dr Perkov and both his wife and mother. I also enjoyed the, at times rapid, see-sawing between the bright, busy living and the grating and edgy undead. (The fact that it's not always apparent who's horizontal and who should be vertical makes for some humour upon reflection.) And Dr Perkov's ignorance of what the hell is going on, and why, goes one better than the Bruce Willis character in "The Sixth Sense". However viewers who like mounting suspense and sustained terror may be disappointed as the excitement comes in short spurts rather than long draughts. Also some might be irritated, as I was, by Dr Perkov's rather slow awakening, and the high tolerance of people around him as his behaviour (and grooming) degenerated. My final niggle is a question to the director. If characters are shown in closeup talking in a car, why suddenly screen the passing countryside as viewed from a low flying aircraft; especially when it's obviously meant to be from their viewing perspective as you return straight back to the car interior. Several times. The acting was excellent throughout, "Shadows" was beautifully filmed with some mouth-watering shots of the Aegan, and I fell in love yet again with an unattainable woman.

MatildaBroz Milcho Manchevski is one of my favorite directors. First I watched "Before the Rain" which literally blew me up. I don't know how people from the rest of the world feels like after watching the movie, but I can ensure you that my Balcan blood boiled after The rain. Remarkable story, actors, music. Then came "Dust". I don't feel like comparing those two movies, but Dust was maybe even better. The scene where Corto Maltese is among Turkish soldiers made me laugh as hell! What a crazy idea! So near the Balkan absurd.But "Senki"? I really don't know what to think after watching it. Maybe I should've written this review sooner, its been a few days now since I saw it. I must say I was surprised seeing that Milcho had made a horror movie. OK, I thought, he sure got talent to deal with that genre... I cant say I'm disappointed, because Before the rain and Dust are just two so perfect movies I could watch them over and over and It'll always be as good as the first time, but I'm not sure thats the case with Shadows. The story indeed is good, and I just love the way Eros and Tanatos dance hand in hand through the movie, but I cant stop thinking this film could've really been good. But it isn't. Somethings missing. The main actor irritated me the most, in the role of Lazar, wasn't at times convincing enough, his expression in some scenes just fits better Spanish soap operas, also his relation to his mother. And what is that stupid scene with the bones in a box at his mothers office and her comment on it? It has some issues that are mind disturbing and food for thought, but generally it looks like a school project of some young wannabe film maker, rather than a movie from the big Manchevski we are used to. It seems kind of to amateurish. Also the choise of music was quite good but the songs were placed in the wrong time. Especially the scene where the main character is making love with a ghost, in the background you hear something like traditional Macedonian/Balcan music...what a disappointment!

HumanoidOfFlesh Doctor Lazar Perkov has just returned to his apartment in Skopje from his parents' villa in the lakes district after a year convalescing from a near-fatal car crash.He tries to return to work at the hospital,but his nightmares won't help him.He forgets things,fears his recovery isn't stable and has now had his first visit from the disturbed souls of the dead(the old lady and the creepy looking guy with unbaptized infant).I saw "Senki" during Warsaw Film Festival and I was a little bit disappointed.The film is too long and quite dull in spots.It offers some beautiful photography of Macedonian landscapes,some scenes are pretty moving,but the horror elements are weak.Still there are four lovely sex scenes with a good dose of female nudity to keep me happy.6 out of 10.

dragan733 Today evening I watched the Shadows, the third movie of Milcho Manchevski. I believe the title of the movie should be Ghosts rather than Shadows. Even tough I expect it to be a movie about everyday life it turned out to be a horror movie. I believe this is the best Machevski movie so far and it definitely deserves to be at least nominated for Oskar, in the foreign movie category.In this movie Manchevski uses the same rationality cliché as in his previous movies. However, in Senki this rationality is more stressed which gives good contrasts in the movie. To illustrate this I shall use some scenes from the movie, since I believe that many of you are familiar with them. Manchevski involves the contrasts between the rational and free, the moral and immoral, the individual and the collective, love and hate. The moral and rational win in the end. In a somewhat subconscious way Manchevski stipulates that the possibility of the origin of all the unhappiness lies behind the disobeying of the moral standards and rules. This can be seen in the beginning of the movie, before the doctor's traffic accident, when the doctor drove after having a fight with his wife, who, on the other hand behaved badly towards her child. She was smoking in front of him and even let the child light her cigarette. In the movie we can see various examples of breaking the moral standards. The doctor aimed to respect the morality, even throwing the money amounting to few thousand Euros because they were given to him as a bribe. He did this to respect one of the Ten Commandments – do not covet anything that belongs to your neighbor. He didn't want to steal and he was ready to help people even in the case of the old lady, that he took to the hospital. In other cases other doctors would say – I would not bother with her, she is old anyway. Doctor Lazar didn't want to commit adultery as an individual whereas everybody around him did. And, finally when he fulfills the task for the mother – the duty given by the church, to bury the bones or else the ghosts would not have peace. Now, a question arises as to where does this sense of morality arise in today's times of high immorality, when the world is in a chaotic state due to sins. Does this glimpse of moral value erupt only at unique individuals who remain heroes in comparison to the other immoral people. Is the source of sin in the fantasies – as in the lesbian scene between the doctor's wife and Menka? It seems like Manchevski subconsciously suggests that this could indeed be the source of all evil.In conclusion, I believe that Manchevski would like to send a message through this movie that we should act humane and according to the moral standards for this world to become a better place