“It took the greatest film ever made and trashed it in a way that was on one level farcically stupid and on another level absolutely unforgivable.”

“There is too much mugging, too many knowing nods and winks to the audience, something which starts to feel more cloyingly tragic than farcically comic.”

“Musicians play oboe-like suona, bell-shaped gongs and a variety of drums, while masked or unmasked dancers move farcically to the accompaniment.”