Unoriginal plot in the original frame The story behind the plot is not new to the cinema: a woman seeks to restore her dignity by avenging the rape. In the Romanian village where Catalin lives, what happened to her is considered shameful. And when the husband points the “disgraced” wife at the door, she is firmly sure what she will do.
And while the plot goes on its course, the director switches all the attention of the viewer to the bright landscapes of Transylvania. Wide fields, covered with gloomy forests of mountains and always not timely rain emphasize the tension in the soul of the heroine and even cause associations with nature in von Trier’s Antichrist as the kingdom of Satan. The whole sound range also escalates tension: archaic folk music and sometimes unnaturally intensifying sounds of nature plunge the viewer into incredibly distant times. And only by having a mobile phone you can understand that you are still in the 21st century, and not in the realm of "forgotten ancestors."
Where laws are established by merciless nature, do not expect mercy from men.
6 out of 10
Original