Thursday, February 18, 2016

Film Review: Der Kübelreiter (2015) Stefan Malešević

By Olivia Maria Hărşan




Mentored by none other than Béla Tarr, Film Factory student Stefan Malešević delivers a black and white short in the tradition of the renowned Hungarian filmmaker. We have a lonely man, a simple and cold dwelling with a coal heater, apocalyptic weather dominated by a blizzard and a strange interaction between two individuals. However, unlike Tarr’s films, there is something subhuman about the characters in Der Kübelreiter. Malešević’s references to Kafka are uniquely expressed through the amalgamation between human and animals – the characters croak like frogs when they communicate – but we also notice sensitivity within these creatures. Malešević presents us with a postmodern meditation of life, stripped to its bare necessities whereupon simple man becomes problematic.

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