ON THE SILVER SCREEN: FAMILY "BLOOD" FEUD

Printer-friendly versionPrinter-friendly version Share this

By Brian Lafferty

 

March 16, 2012 (San Diego) – There is a compelling story waiting to be told in The Forgiveness of Blood. Instead, what’s left is the cinematic equivalent of an uneaten banana. It gets riper and riper, until it eventually turns to inedible mush. A two-hour missed opportunity, it never blossoms, thanks to the most inept cinematography I’ve witnessed since last year’s Incendies.

 

Forgiveness is a modern-day Hatfield and McCoy-type blood feud between two Albanian families, with teenager Nik (Tristan Halilaj) caught in the crosshairs. It starts with a boundary dispute between Nik’s father and a neighbor. A later (offscreen) confrontation ends in that neighbor’s death, allegedly at the hands of Nik’s father. Custom dictates that the dead man’s family has the right to take the life of a male from Nik’s family. Because his uncle is in jail and his father is on the lam, Nik is the target. A virtual prisoner in his own home, and his promising life upended, he rebels.

 

Director Joshua Marston and cinematographer Rob Hardy eschew a tripod in favor of a handheld camera. It’s not a bad technique if executed competently, with style, or with a purpose. Winter in Wartime and Rachel Getting Married both used a handheld camera with respective styles integral to the story; the former done to build adventurous excitement and the latter to recreate an intimate home video.

 

Sometimes handheld shots are born out of necessity. In Mean Streets, Martin Scorsese used a handheld camera for certain shots because he couldn’t afford to lay all the tracks for the dolly shots. At first awkward, they quickly blend in because the cameraman keeps the camera as steady as he can.

 

Whoever was responsible for holding the camera in Forgiveness didn't do a good job.  The frame jiggles like a Jell-O gelatin. I had to strain my eyes to follow the events, something I never had to do during a Michael Bay or Paul Greengrass film. It’s as if the cameraman just lazily held the camera.

 

For each scene, the filmmakers use only the light available in the shot; for example, if it’s nighttime and the room has only one lamp, that lamp provides the sole source of light. While consistent with the film’s intended naturalistic style, it occasionally creates moments of confusion during key scenes.

 

At one point Nik’s father returns to show him how to load a rifle. The camera lingers over the father’s arms in a manner that yells, “Look at this! This is important!” Nik asks, “Did they do that to you?” His father doesn’t respond.

 

Here, the stringent lighting limitations prove burdensome. I looked hard, but I didn’t know what it was I was supposed to see. It was way too dim. I could see the arm, but not the detail that the filmmakers wanted me to pay attention to. Sometimes a film will come along where I get so exasperated and frustrated that at one point I throw my up my hands and give up. This was that breaking point.

 

For all its cinematographic mishaps, The Forgiveness of Blood churns out a compelling story – I didn’t say the story was bad – and strong performances by its nonprofessional actors. Tristan Halilaj, should he embark on a career, gets himself off to a great start. His frustrated, rebellious performance as Nik is the film’s highlight. Sindi Lacej – as Nik’s sister, Rudina – instills in her character a roll-with-the-punches, take-it-as-it-comes attitude that propels her through the film’s treacherous world.

 

I understand the stylistic intent. But even if it were filmed properly, I don’t see why director Marston wanted this style. It bears no symbolic relationship with the events on screen. I have no idea what he was trying to communicate. It raises a lot of questions, but the answers are buried under incompetent filmmaking and I don’t feel like digging.

 

C

 

The Forgiveness of Blood is now playing at the Landmark Ken Cinema.

 


An IFC Films release. Director: Joshua Marston. Screenplay: Joshua Marston and Andamion Murataj. Original Music: Leonardo Heiblum and Jacobo Lieberman. Cinematography: Rob Hardy. Cast: Tristan Halilaj, Sindi Lacej, Refet Abazi, and Ilire Vinca Celaj. 109 minutes. Unrated.

 


Brian Lafferty can be reached at brian@eastcountymagazine.org. You can also follow him on Twitter: @BrianLaff.

 


Error message

Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.