Prevrashcheniye
(2002)
"This film is based upon the novel by Franz Kafkas from 1912. We follow a businessman, Gregor, who is heading home to his home town to see his family. He is stressed out because of his work, and because of the bad relationship between himself and his father. Evgenij Mironov plays the part as the man who is on his way to self-destructive isolation through the fact that he is slowly turning into a beetle. Along with the very surreal settings in this movie, the viewer gets to witness Gregor's dreams, and how everything around him happens from his view. The film is unique in anyway, in terms of music, cinematography, editing, and acting. The tale has been adapted to film a number of times, but the Russian stage director Valerij Fokin is the first to show the physical deformation of Gregor. The film also leaves questions about "how" and "why", but on the other hand, the surreality may not need an explanation at all. Let me point out that it is VERY rare that I give full score for a movie, but Metamorphosis is definitely worthy of it.