I've watched this movie several times and it gets better with every viewing. There is so much just below the surface. I've heard it said that films aren't always meant to entertain, that instead they're meant to make us think or to teach us something. I disagree. Despite the slow pace of this film, I found it wildly entertaining, even if I derived that entertainment from being made to think. Some will say nothing happens in the film, but there is actually so much happening, so much subtext and so much going on in the mind of the lead character that's left unsaid, left for the audience to figure out. You just have to look for it, and you don't even have to look that hard. This is sheer realism like it's never been done before, though this form should be obvious in hindsight. It's subtle and complex and genius. There is a lot going on that I'm sure the filmmakers didn't even intend, which makes it even better and adds more levels to the characters. Stylistically, it borrows heavily from Stranger Than Paradise, though this one has more truth to it. It deserves to be discovered and loved by a much wider audience, but part of me hopes that never happens; it's too good for that, and I want to keep it all to myself.
