Three novellas about murder, violence and death. But mainly about males and females, infants and old people. About paradoxes of human nature and human behaviour. A dark comedy; so dark that its humour makes you shiver and feel scared of your own laughter. ‘I don’t like men. I don’t like women. I don’t like children. I’m not fond of people. I would give this planet a zero mark.’ This famous statement by Ofa (Renata Litvinova), the femme fatale and serial killer from the second novella, is wrongly considered by some critics to be a ‘message’ of the film and even Muratova’s personal motto. As a result she has been accused of misanthropy. But that’s just a common misconception of the highly provocative nature of Three Stories. In fact, this film is a brilliant example of Muratova’s ‘dangerous method’, which unmasks and undermines common morals in a very playful way, without any fear or sentimentality.
