- The problem with most foreign films is that by the time they make it to North American audiences, their trailers are covered snippets of reviews from lauding critics who saw the films much earlier at TIFF or Cannes or Venice or wherever and the overwhelming anticipation it builds is too much to ever live up to. “It feels like a classic even as you are watching it for the first time.” Nope. “Chilling and resonant”? Not so much. “A picture that will be viewed and discussed for decades to come.” Okay, that one is probably true. Clearly I’m not feeling this one.
- For the most part, I had difficulty with the pacing and thought the first hour really dragged. It’s funny because in re-watching the trailer just now and in re-reading the synopsis, you get the feeling that all these seemingly random acts of violence are happing in quick succession, but it’s all very drawn out, both in the chronology of the film and in the time lapse between scenes in the narrative. That temporal space made it difficult for me to buy into the “oh my god, so much calamity is befalling our village” idea, even though clearly any one of these things happening on its own would have been a shock in such a tiny town, let alone several of them happening in one calendar year. It definitely picked up in the second half of the movie, but by then I was too disinterested to really have any reaction when something went awry.
- The kids travelled in packs and all looked like up-and-coming young Aryans so it was occasionally difficult to remember which kids belonged to which parents. Perhaps this confusion is intentional and we’re meant to apply “it takes a village” logic to the situation. Also, the Village of the Damned vibe was a bit much.
- I will say that this was BEAUTIFULLY filmed. I loved how stationary the camera was and how paralysed your vantage point was at a result, forcing you to only imagine what is happening off screen where the characters have stepped out of the frame but something horrific is happening. It reminded me of Manhattan, of all things, mostly for forcing the actors to be the ones to move around the screen instead of doing silly camera work to add movement.
- Also, the black and white (which I’ve since learned was filmed in colour and converted afterwards) has an absolutely gorgeous range of tones. Clearly the person in charge of this s a fan of Ansel Adams’ zone system.
- Things that fail: having beautiful shots of snowy fields on a wintry day and then using white subtitles on top of them. I’m not kidding. Drop shadows don’t fix things as well as you’d hope.
- I actually don’t mind the open-endedness or the lack of oblique resolution with all the “Whodunnit” questions. I’d actually watch it again for that aspect.
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