Krajinka

Krajinka, aka "Landscape," consists of 10 separate vignettes, or short stories, grafted together chronologically. The time span stretches from pre-WWII Slovenia(?) to the latter half of the 20th century. Although a couple of characters reappear in episodes, the stories are mainly independent of each other.

What unites the stories is a rural spirit of life that is ribald, compassionate, cruel, and above all resilient. The "landscape" shrugs off Fascists (both Hungarian and German), and subsequent Communists. Still, there is a feeling that we are witnessing the end of an era, the gradual demise of a way of life that will never come again. The movie is a eulogy for this dying culture.

The beauty of the film is in its close attention to details--the motorcyclist who wears his jacket backwards to keep out the wind; the nose-wrestling contest; the hapless beggar who hides in the sewage of an outhouse; the clock museum of a beautiful war widow. Caution: towards the end of the film there is a scene of a fox writhing in a steel-jawed trap--perhaps innocent in the context of this country culture, but disturbing nevertheless.

But the movie is basically full of life, love and soul. A fitting eulogy for a dying way of life.