This is the kind of pretentious, boring foreign film that gives foreign films such a bad name. There are so many engrossing, life-changing foreign films out there, but I think people shy away from them because they fear getting stuck with something ridiculously self-indulgent like this. This film is as pompous as it is esoteric.Since it made so many critics' top ten lists for the year in which it was released, I was eager to watch it but couldn't find it for rent. Thank God I finally found it, and didn't buy it: I hated virtually every minute of it.It consists, so I read, of only 39 black-and-white shots: most of the time we are being treated to the spectacle of circus-related characters monologuing on in the directors attempt to instill a "looming sense of dread" in the viewer. The only dread I felt was that the thing would go on and on.I have no hesitation admitting that this film is over my head, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's any good.