15) Katalin Varga
Directed by Peter Strickland
Released in 2009
Katalin Varga could easily be described as Romania's answer to Kill Bill. In story, the two films share only slight differences; it follows a woman who, after her and her son are kicked out of their home, sets out to stay with her mother and, along the way, decides to take care of a few ghosts from her past. What exactly happened in her past is the main enigma in Katalin Varga too, much like what Tarantino did in the aforementioned Kill Bill. However, in style and tone, this revenge thriller is more like Dead Man's Shoes or Red Road. There's no entertaining violence or black humour to be found here as Peter Strickland has instead created a movie that is slow-burning, atmospheric and quietly disturbing.
Moreover, there isn't a hero in Katalin Varga who you side with until the end; it's a film full of shades of grey. While you can see why Varga would want revenge because of what these men did to her, Strickland also makes the villains human and, therefore, you feel sorry for them despite what they did. This is something I applaud the film for, it's not a movie that promotes the use of violence as a means to exorcise demons but, rather, shows that violence is never the appropriate answer. It also shows that no matter how much something a person has done sickens you, they aren't monsters; they are human beings as well who are capable of guilt, pain and love.
The cinematography, it must be said, is absolutely amazing. Scenes of Varga and her son travelling through the beautiful yet haunting landscape of Romania almost make the movie as gripping as the the mysteries in the narrative. The film is also a great debut from British director Peter Strickland whose unique style may prove himself to be the new Andrea Arnold or Lynne Ramsay in coming years.
Sure, the thin narrative means that once you know what these men did, there's little that would entice you to revisit this Romanian revenge thriller. Nevertheless, it's daring, atmospheric, beautifully shot and very thought-provoking.
3/5
3 comments:
Would feel guilty not to comment; not seen this. Not all that interested either. I appreciate that it'll be good at what it does but I'm not in the mood to watch that at the moment, haha.
Though I was thinking, what's your plan for pacing yourself to reach 500 films?
I wouldn't say it's a must watch. If you're in the mood for something like this though one day it's a decent flick. :)
I haven't really thought about it. :P I figured out that one a day in the week and two a day on a weekend would just about cover it though. But I'm worried about losing momentum on holiday. :S Haha!
Easy. Just catch up when you have work to do.
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