Katalin Varga

Obviously filmmaker Strickland has a special interest in women's world. Hilda Péter is simply brilliant as the strong willed woman, giving it a mythical inner power and carries the whole show. Shot in 17 days, the movie has the stamp of a genius inspiration. I think it would easily be considered masterpiece in case it was part of a grander philosophical undertaking.

Having already seen and very much enjoyed this director's Berberian Sound Studio and prior to seeing his latest, The Duke Of Burgundy, decided to check out this, his first feature. Glad I did, seems it didn't get a theatrical release in UK, which is a travesty. Great little film, very focused, very intense, with a stunning central performance from Hilda Peter. Problems in her village prompt her to take off with her son and traverse the Carpathians and maybe exorcise her devils. Always very good to look at, this also has what has become a Strickland trademark, amazing score. The tinkling cowbells, echoing across the fields or the creak of the horse and cart carrying them both find their way unobtrusively into the score. Always engrossing, the central sequence where the main character explains graphically what happened to her as their boat slowly spins on a lake is spellbinding and so very effective. Excellent.

When the husband of the eponymous Katalin Varga learns that he is not the father of their ten year old son, Orban, he throws her out and demands that she leaves their village. She departs with Orban, telling him that they are going to see his sick grandmother. She has other plans though; Orban wasn't the result of an infidelity but of rape and now she intends to have her revenge. This is something that will have unintended consequences and put her in danger.

Usually when revenge is the subject of a film there will be lots of action before a righteous avenger slays the villainous character who wronged them. This is very different; there is little in the way of action but that is more than made up for in atmosphere. The rural Romanian setting is beautiful and in turns idyllic and oppressive depending on the location and even the weather. This is a world where ancient meets modern; Katalin travels in a horse drawn cart but characters have mobile phones. Hilda Péter does a great job as Katalin, a character who is rarely off screen; the scene where she talks about what happened to her is particularly effecting. The supporting cast are solid too; most notably Tibor Pálffy who plays the man she most wants revenge against... a character that is more sympathetic than one might expect. Overall I'd definitely recommend the melancholically beautiful film.

Great, atmospheric effort from Strickland. I can only imagine he had some affinity with this part of Romania whether from childhood or other. The soundtrack and some of the slow lingering shots (esp. the scene looking at child, mother and horse not moving from behind, and the forest shot) were very affecting, and reminded me of Tarkovsky (not in a bad way ;)I got to thinking of the inextricable nature of all things, of how everything (as a single glorious 'entity') was so deviously and religiously bound up that to even attempt to extract something from it was tantamount to destructuring the whole (and thus destroying its royalty). That a film can inspire me (it has to be said not single-handedly)to such ends is indicative of a deep metaphysical quality within it.There is a particular sentence that the man utters towards the end of the film that resonates deeply towards this metaphysis. I shan't explicate it, nor even repeat it, but you shall know it when you hear it.

Thanks for this Strickland, and all who were involved in and outside it (even the guy who carted the extra film stock when, presumably, you ran out ;) 'Ultimately, there are no parts at all.' Fritjof Capra, The Web of Life.

The beautiful Transylvanian countryside, where a thin veil of modernity covers a continuing peasant lifestyle for many, is the setting for Peter Strickland's short, unsentimental film 'Katalin Varga' about the aftermath of a rape. It's a quiet movie, strikingly shot, that offers no pretence of life easier than it actually is. To me, it seemed that the reaction of the perpetrator's wife seemed simultaneously slightly overdone (in terms of motivation) and underplayed; one might also suggest that the ending is not especially satisfying, probably because the film never lets us know exactly what it is that Katalin is hoping for. This can be justified, however, because it's completely plausible that the character doesn't know herself. In a nutshell, this is a revenge movie; but so much more interesting that most of what we see in this genre.