I can safely say To Dust is... Quite unlike most movie - or maybe any movie - about grief I can think of... uh... Maybe it's reverse Hassidic Frankenstein? Instead of resurrecting a body to life it's bringing the body to get into the Earth quicker?! This is followed to some wonderfully bizarre extremes.
The main character is a bit hard to really get into due to his... Ways about him, which is being stubborn and prickly and totally set in his mindset regarding the body and the soul (not a slight on the actor, he does what hes asked to do),and Broderick acts his Brodericky self off. It's a truly interesting independent film dramedy that doesn't compromise really, which is a strength and a detriment. It's a view into a hermetically sealed world done with humor, even if it's hit or miss, and genuine pathos.
Thank you for getting into producing, Ron Perlman!
To Dust
2018
Action / Comedy / Drama
To Dust
2018
Action / Comedy / Drama
Keywords: deathgriefhasidic judaism
Plot summary
Shmuel, a Hasidic cantor in Upstate New York, distraught by the untimely death of his wife, struggles to find religious solace, while secretly obsessing over how her body will decay. As a clandestine partnership develops with Albert, a local community college biology professor, the two embark on a darkly comic and increasingly literal undertaking into the underworld.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
Director
Top cast
Tech specs
720p.WEB 1080p.WEBMovie Reviews
Unlike anything else you'll see in this (or most) year(s)
Realistically Sadly Humorous
Would have gotten nine stars except the characterization of the C.C. prof was more comical than realistic, and any half way adequate collegiate anthropology or forensic taphonomy dept. or natural history museum could have given direction to questions of decomposition. Anyway, sort-of-science meets orthodox Jew (actually an Hasidic cantor) in this at times amusing, at times heartfelt devotion, journey & discovery of soulful death. The pig (other animals have also been time lapsed filmed) cycle of returning nutrients to the earth is a film classic which brings up the question of the effects of embalming chemicals & casket materials.
There is no guide on how to grief. This man tried to console his wifes loss by burrying a pig and watch it decompose. May sound silly, is endearing nonetheless.
This is an unknown dark comedy gem, definitely worth checking out if you are into bizarre arthouse movies. It has got a gorgeous style of direction, with a dark, yet wonderful serene kind of feel to it, which I was really impressed by!
This movie is best described as a drama comedy. The drama part is about the man's unconsolable grief about his wifes death. The comedy part is the bizarre hilarious ways in which the man tries to console himself. One way of finding consolation is by burrying a pig to literally see it rotting away in the ground. You'll understand why, if you start watching...
Yes, this all might sound bizarre and even gross, but everything is done with the utmost respect for those feelings of grief everyone experiences when a loved one dies. There are many ways of grieving and this movie portrays one the most bizarre ways of grieving I have ever witnessed.
An extraoridinary movie, although it may not be suited for the faint of hearted, it is still so magnificently subtle in direction and genuinly goodhearted in nature. Really impressive and touching story about grief.