They range from a Catholic priest he corners for a philosophical discussion in the confessional to a disturbing episode with a nihilistic thug who has commandeered a city bus.

[4] It eventually received a proper theatrical release in the U.S. on December 27, 1991 when it played for a week at the Film Society of Lincoln Center in New York City.

[5] Jonathan Rosenbaum of The Chicago Reader was an early champion of the film, writing that "each sequence was shot only once, so the possibility of accident and error hovers over every moment suspensefully, as in a jazz improvisation.

The virtuoso camera movements and stereo sound lead to gradual and unpredictable expositions of physical space; the variety of acting styles creates a feeling of perpetual uncertainty about the registers of reality underlying each sequence...Alternately comic, disturbing, challenging, and demanding, this is a galvanizing, high-level game for adventurous spectators, and a truly remarkable first feature.

"[4] Later in the year, Kehr wrote a full-length review for the Tribune, writing that "Tregenza has accomplished an astonishing thing [blending] the kind of formal experimentation associated with directors on the farthest fringe of the avant-garde (Michael Snow, Jean-Luc Godard, Jean-Marie Straub) with a genuine interest in drama and character.