Eastern European cinema is a diverse subject that has been scarcely regarded, especially compared to other world cinemas. From screen analysis to personal accounts, this blog is a meditation on Eastern European cultural values with emphasis on totalitarian iconography and other clandestine ciphers that have become motifs across the films of Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Poland, Russia, Czech Republic and East Germany.
Thursday, March 31, 2016
Film Review: Some of Us/ (2014) Anja Kavic
By Olivia Maria Hărşan
It is hard to believe that Anja Kavic’s powerful drama Some of Us is a short film because the theatrical
delivery of the narrative engrosses the viewer to a point where time seems as
though it has lapsed. The film begins as a young woman paces through a run down
train in a rail yard. Suddenly voices begin to echo throughout the carriage as
if to taunt the woman and the viewer will question: Are these voices from the
past or the present? She steps out of the train where another woman awaits
seated on the steps of another carriage. A menacing atmosphere invades the
viewer’s conscious at this point as the women begin to talk. We find out that
they are sisters and, as the tension in their interaction rises, we come to
understand that their relationship as siblings is dysfunctional. The drama is
intense in Some of Us and this is due
to the phenomenal acting – we really begin to believe the extent of the issues between
the sisters, particularly when one takes out a gun threatening to shoot the
other. And yet, the trains remain motionless and silent in opposition of their
purpose. There is no progression, only a collapse of negative emotions and
eventually a disturbing meltdown
It is hard to believe that Anja Kavic’s powerful drama Some of Us is a short film because the theatrical
delivery of the narrative engrosses the viewer to a point where time seems as
though it has lapsed. The film begins as a young woman paces through a run down
train in a rail yard. Suddenly voices begin to echo throughout the carriage as
if to taunt the woman and the viewer will question: Are these voices from the
past or the present? She steps out of the train where another woman awaits
seated on the steps of another carriage. A menacing atmosphere invades the
viewer’s conscious at this point as the women begin to talk. We find out that
they are sisters and, as the tension in their interaction rises, we come to
understand that their relationship as siblings is dysfunctional. The drama is
intense in Some of Us and this is due
to the phenomenal acting – we really begin to believe the extent of the issues between
the sisters, particularly when one takes out a gun threatening to shoot the
other. And yet, the trains remain motionless and silent in opposition of their
purpose. There is no progression, only a collapse of negative emotions and
eventually a disturbing meltdown
Monday, March 28, 2016
Film Review: Post Mortem (2015) Jakov Torić
By Olivia Maria Hărşan
In Post Mortem Jakov Torić presents a dissection of a summer past through a compilation of shots taken at a beachside resort during the colder months of the year. The spaces filmed are deserted and bleak while Torić teases his audience with diegetic sound captured during a crowded summer season – we hear children playing, a boat splashing across the water, people gathered together, chatting and enjoying their holiday. Now only remnants of the past linger – shops that were once populated are temporarily closed while the streets remain empty with no one in sight. Torić’s film captures the idea that without the sun, without the warmth this place is nothing. Even paradise fails to last forever.
Monday, March 14, 2016
Tuesday, March 1, 2016
Film Still of the Month: Devil Servants/ Vella kalpi (1970) Aleksandrs Leimanis
By Olivia Maria Hărşan
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)