Review of The Forgiveness of Blood (2011) by Jillian L — 22 Nov 2013

In "The Forgiveness of Blood," Mark(Refet Abazi) has a running argument with Sokol(Veton Osmani) about taking a short cut over his land that used to belong to Mark's grandfather. One day, that erupts into bloodshed that leaves Sokol dead, Mark's brother Zef(Luan Jaha) in jail and Mark on the run. In order to avoid reprisals from Sokol's family, Mark's house goes into lockdown, making a special point to keep Mark's teenaged son Nik(Tristan Halilaj) home from school. That leaves Rudina(Sindi Lacej) to take care of the family business of delivering bread every day.

"The Forgiveness of Blood" is not so much suspenseful, as it is filled with dread, proving that in a state of siege you don't need zombies or Daleks to pull it off. And in most scenarios like this, the movie would belong to Nik but surprisingly not in this case, as while he certainly has a right to complain about a situation that could possibly drag on for years and not of his own making, he is also more than a little petulant at the same time, even managing to make matters worse at one point.(To the movie's vast credit, it does not show the central incident, not allowing the viewer to assign blame, even though otherwise we see events almost exclusively from the point of view of Mark's family.) No, it is Rudina who rises to the occasion, even showing some serious entrepreneurial skills. That works in favor of the movie gently subverting the patriarchy, this one in Albania where horsecarts and smart phones co-exist on unpaved roads.