review by Jacob Olsen Patron
Katalin Varga 2009
Watched Jun 24, 2012
Jacob Olsen’s review:
What a fine little film. Although it's basically a quite standard rape-revenge story (if they ever can be considered standard) - by assuming that people aren't either entirely good or entirely evil it manages to turn the situation almost completely around at points.
Thanks to the beautiful landscape the movie is also lovely to look at in spite of its bleak message. Well acted, well executed within its frame of only 82 minutes.
It is an excellent little movie with a great soundtrack too.
This is one of my favourite films from the last couple of years. There's an interview in The Guardian with the director where he tells how he personally funded the film with an inheritance he originally had planned to buy himself an apartment with. So this is real indie cinema.
The great soundtrack is by Steven Stapleton of Nurse With Wound fame. Once again good taste trumps financial hardships.
If there is one little thing on a negative note - her motivation to finally go out and do what she did seemed a bit coincidental. Or, when I think about it while writing this - maybe not. I guess it was due to her anger of having her marriage suddenly torn apart. I just thought it came a bit sudden and that maybe she could have done it before (debating only with myself here now). :-)