Romania has become one of the best new countries in film production. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days is one of my favourite films of all time and there have been a number of other amazing titles. They have generally represented a grim Communist Ceausescu era and are often filmed in a simple and bleak style. Katalin Varga follows the trend in style but not in content.
It tells the story of a woman whose husband finds out that their 11 year old son is the product of a rape and therefore disowns them. Katalin therefore decides to track down the father of Ordin, her son. They embark on a journey across rural Romania in which they encounter a number of people. When they finally get to the Rapist's village, Katalin becomes part of his and his wife's life in order to plot her revenge.
British director, Peter Strickland, has created an excellent piece of cinema which follows the recent trend of excellent Romanian cinema. Considering the budget of $28,000, it is a pretty impressive effort. A lot of the visuals demonstrate the beauty of Romanian countryside and there was an intriguing use of sound to complement the scenic shots. Rather than use music, Strickland used natural sound to intensify and build up tension which worked extremely well.
There is one particular scene that stood out for me. Katalin is sitting in the boat with the rapist and the wife and starts explaining what happened the night she was raped. The boat was swaying side to side with a knocking sound by the oars, which is supports the fine acting of the lead.
Considering the low budget, this is a remarkable piece on cinema and continues the excellent quality of output from Romania. If you are a fan of world cinema, I would really recommend seeing one or two Romanian titles.
4/5 - A well directed and acted piece of cinema from Romania - the new power house of world cinema
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