Kaymak

I have seen all of Milcho Manchevski's feature films, and the brand-new KAYMAK is one of my absolute favorites. In a number of ways, this engaging, well-paced movie takes us into recognizable territory: the southeast European setting, several familiar (and extremely talented) actors and actresses, parallel but linked story lines, profuse music that is fresh, engaging and very carefully curated, and a thematic focus on children, child-bearing, social pressures on and expectations of women, and, perhaps most generally but most compellingly here, love---just plain love, often sexual but also, significantly, familial. The plot (no spoilers here, I promise) could be described as the intersecting fate of two polyamorous threesomes who live a couple of floors apart in a modern high-rise in Skopje. Beyond the plot, which was sensual and poignant and intricately put together, I have to say that I was also surprised by some scenes of humor and even hilarity (anyone a fan of "Bandiera rossa" here? Or have you ever picked at a pseudo-historical classical column--a testimony to the heavy-handed Disneyland-ification of history--and come away with...sawdust on your fingers?). All in all, this is an extremely satisfying film to experience: visually, musically, with perfect rhythms, and in the conviction that nobody ever said love was easy but who, really, can survive without it?

With this movie, Manchevski confirms his mastery in narrating deeply intimate stories with ease, as well as lifting the curtain off of themes we'd rather keep silent. He pins down personal stories in a precise social and cultural cross section of the reality that we collectively ignore and live at the same time. Through a sensual atmosphere and in contrast to our brutal day-to-day life- he showcases the ways in which women are beautiful, witty, and shameless in a myriad of ways; which, as a woman, I found quite pleasing and intriguing.

That aside, I'm confident that men will enjoy the movie in equal measure, and I hope they will laugh sincerely and "manly" from the heart.

The movie tells two different stories of two neighbouring families whuch are not connected or similar in any way except living close to each other.

Without giving any plot points the movie has captured the differences in life style and the social circumstances we live in quite nicely. Although the actions are not exactly everyday living, you can clearly the read through the characters and their motivations.

At start you might feel uneasy with what's going on on the screen, but as soon as you get to know the characters the feeling of uneasiness goes away. There's humor, but not sure if it can be well received or even perceived by foreign audeinces, some of it is realky specefic and inspired by real life political, economical and social events.

Acting was superb, even though some of the dialogue feels out of place.

Throughout the movie you will want to know what will happen next.

It has some cringe inducing moments, some weirdness and maybe gloomy ambient, but the end is satisfying.

There's nudity, and while you expect that at any moment it could go terribly graphic, it doesn't, it balances that line of too much or too little extremly well.

Totally worth the watch.

Manchevski's newest feature, Kaymak, explores the lives of disparate families in this smart black comedy. Once again he touches on themes of maternal instinct, spontaneity, unfettered joy, and casual cruelty that cuts to the quick. Juxtaposing peaceful village scenery with the claustrophobic jam-packed city, the story follows two couples who embark on unconventional romantic liaisons. Sara Klimoska, who was also in Manchevski's Willow, brings a tender vulnerability to Dosta, the village girl who visits the big city, while Aleksandar Mikic's fun-loving security guard was also delightful to watch. How, or even whether, these stories are going to intersect isn't clear at first - as in many of Manchevski's movies, you're never quite sure where it's going until he's ready to let you know - but Manchevski gives us characters to care about and root for in this offbeat love story.

Unfortunately the narrative of "Kaymak" feels like a strange satire or paradoxly like a serious comedy. I find it hard to put a label on the genre of this film as it jumps from serious humourless scenes to silly ridiculous ones, that sometimes feel almost vulgar (because of the excess of nudity and sex). As a result it was quite difficult for me to take the sad moments seriously. We can clearly see the parallels in the two story lines yet they are so far from each other that it is actually hard to take them in together at the same time in one film. Overall "Kaymak" is too far-fetched to be believable, yet not far-fetched enough to be a crazy mad fictional entertaining picture. I must admit that I actually think that the initial idea for this film was interesting, just with a bad approach. Eventhough the two story lines finally somehow come together in the final 15 minutes in an unpredictable way, the previous 80 minutes failed to fully capture my attention and interest.