Melancholian 3 huonetta

Superbly conveys its themes of despair and lost opportunities.

An achingly beautiful look at the most tragic victims of the longtime war in Chechnya: children.

Walloping gut punch The 3 Rooms of Melancholia offers a harrowing docu look at war and militarism's wounds, as seen through the eyes of Russian and Chechen children.

Consistently moving but never quite coalesces into a strongly coherent whole.

Honkasalo's bleak, meditative 2004 documentary, about children who have been orphaned or dispossessed as a result of the Russian-Chechen conflict, eschews any attempts to make sense out of this long-running war.

Frustratingly little here grapples with the day-to-day realities of life in Chechnya and the surrounding areas.

Shows that war is horrible, but fails to fully understand the people who experience the horror beyond their sad exteriors.