(Watched at the Locarno Film Festival 2023)
There's a sense of nostalgia in Maxville's debut film 'The Land Within' ; but not one of a time we regret, but one of a time that feels incomplete. That's where the film starts and it will make you travel in a very powerful cinematic journey.
Remo (played by the disturbingly touching Florist Bajgora) goes back to the village where he grew up, a place that's been decimated by a conflict the director doesn't name (very smartly I must admit - giving it a sense of universality). Upon reconnecting with her cousin Una (Luàna Bajrami's first main role, an electrifying performance), their mission is to identify the remains found in a mass grave. What starts as an almost procedural narrative gently gives way to what the film is really about : give those characters the space, the time, the light and the sounds to explore who they are and where they come from. The beautifully crafted magical realism in the film takes the audience on a journey of remembrance to eventually enable the characters to free themselves from their past. I noticed people crying in the audience, but not because it was sad ; because it was beautiful.
Having covered the Sarajevo Film Festival for years, I was surprised at how this film brings a new dimension - and a magical twist - to stories coming from Eastern Europe.
For a first feature film, despite its flaws (e.g. Too many characters, some of them so strikingly beautiful that one regrets not seeing more of them), it is the promise of a strong cinematic voice in the making.
