The Forgiveness of Blood (2011) YTS

Reviewed by CRCulver 5 / 10

Joshua Marston, best known as the director of

Joshua Marston, best known as the director of drug mule story MARIA FULL OF GRACE, gives us here a poignant depiction of blood feuds in northern Albania. The script was cowritten by Andamion Murataj, the film was shot on location, and the actors are all Albanians, some of them amateurs, speaking the authentic Gheg dialect of their region. Nik (Tristan Halilaj) is in his last year of high school and dreams of opening an internet/computer game café in his small town. His sister Rudina (Sindi Lacej) hopes to go on to university. Their dreams are dashed, however, when their father (Refet Abazi) kills a neighbour in a dispute over land. To avoid revenge attacks from the dead man's family, the males of the family are forced to stay inside their home at all times, a situation that could last for years while the community mediates the feud. With the father out of work, Rudina is forced to drop out of school, deliver a bread route, and buy contraband cigarettes to sell at a profit. Marston and his cowriter are clearly interested in depicting the intersection of two worlds in Albania: mobile phones and cheap motorbikes alongside ancient laws that hold a man's honour sacred. What weakens the film, however, is that nowhere is it made clear that blood feuds are not a typical feature of contemporary Albanian life: while they briefly erupted in the early 1990s after the fall of Communism, and some families still live under them, it is very unusual for one to start today. Without mentioning that things have changed, this film misrepresents Albania and misleads Western viewers towards a Boratish caricature. Note how other reviews here and elsewhere tend to commend the film more for "teaching them something about Albania" than for cinematography or acting. The camerawork is completely unimaginative, lacking any carefully composed tracking shots and depending far too often on a seasick shaky handheld camera following a walking actor. While the acting isn't outright bad, the deficiencies in the script only make their amateur effort stand out. While life for the men in the family is tedious as they can't step out of the house, this point is already sufficiently made by halfway through the film, and yet the script goes on and on without anything more to say. The ending seems ad hoc and doesn't really follow from the body of the film.

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Reviewed by larrys3 8 / 10

Powerful Human Drama in Albania

Joshua Marston, who brought to the screen the terrific film "Maria Full of Grace", directed and co-wrote this script along with Andamion Murataj. I found this movie to be a powerful human drama, set in the northern regions of Albania.

Nik, admirably portrayed by first time actor Tristan Halilaj, stars as the oldest son of a close knit family of six. He is a typical teenager who goes to school, wisecracks with his friends, and pursues his interest in girls.

His father, Mark, works a local bread route with an old horse and cart. However, one day an aggressive neighbor denies his father access to a shortcut across his land and threatens and intimidates him. The father returns with his brother Zef to "settle the score", and a fight breaks out whereby the neighbor is killed after he allegedly attacked the two brothers with a knife.

Zef is caught and sentenced to 18 years in jail, but the father goes into hiding. This sets up a "blood feud" between the two families. I thought it was fascinating to see how these feuds are handled by the people in that region. There is a certain code of conduct that must be maintained as set forth in the Kanun. Elders meet to determine the best course of action for the family.

Nik and his family are advised they need to stay in their home unless what they call a "besa" is issued, which is like a temporary pass to leave the house and not worry about any retaliations. Mediators will eventually try and work out a solution to the feud where both sides are satisfied.

But as the weeks pass and no solution is found, the strain on the family becomes intense. His sister Rudina, also wonderfully played by Sindi Lacej, tries to keep the bread route going to help them survive. However, the threats and attacks on their family get more and more intense.

It all spirals into a highly dramatic conclusion.

Overall, I found the film to be somewhat slow moving but for those who enjoy a foreign film which is superbly acted, written, and directed with an interesting solid story it should be quite engrossing and enjoyable.

The Forgiveness of Blood

2011

Drama

The Forgiveness of Blood

2011

Drama

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Joshua Marston, best known as the director of

Powerful Human Drama in Albania

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