Review of The Tribe (2014) by Hugo G — 30 Jan 2015

Having slept on it, I'm still pretty much on the fence on this one. But it will be hard to beat The Tribe for "the most feel-bad and gasp-worthy movie of the year" moniker.

The Tribe chronicles the hermetic and nihilistic life of a gang of deaf students in a ramshackle boarding school (possibly the worst-looking boarding school I've ever seen). Through a newcomer's doe eyes, we witness the members' strange dynamics and violent rituals as they resort to robbery and prostitution to earn money. We soon find out the school authorities are involved. The proceedings get increasingly bleak when the newcomer's love affair with a prostitute gets in the way of the tribe's money-making schemes.

Although there's no denying The Tribe's sheer visceral impact and its audacious approach of using purely sign language to tell a story, a part of me can't help but be slightly offended by the somewhat misogynistic and exploitative gaze of Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy. He seems to delight in piling misery upon misery on the lead characters, in particular, the prostitute embroiled in the love affair, subjecting her to various types of sexual assault. And in particular, in one unforgettable chilling abortion scene carried out in a cruelly-clinical manner that will surely set you wincing and flinching in agony. One could argue the director is merely reflecting the real dismal societal circumstances in all its naked glory, warts and all. But these brutal scenes will surely be etched in the audience's minds, especially the shocker of an ending.

The corrupted inner workings of the tribe and school are eye-opening for ignoramuses, a critique of the dire state of the larger Ukrainian society, and speak volumes about the need of a massive cleanup. The unfortunate non-speaking protagonists are obvious metaphors of the oppressed and silent Ukrainian public.

From an aesthetic point of view, The Tribe is a strange beast -a schizophrenic hodgepodge of the cinema vérité and the stylized. Moments of verisimilitude are juxtaposed with carefully-composed mise-en-scènes. Is this a new kind of hybrid filmmaking?

Relentlessly provocative and offbeat, The Tribe is a descend into madness and human depravity. The irony? It's easy yet also hard to turn away from it.