Plot
An Albanian family is torn apart by a murder, resulting in a blood feud that finds Nik becoming the prime target and his sister, Rudina, forced to leave school in order to take over the family business
Release Year: 2011
Rating: 6.6/10 (312 voted)
Critic's Score: 72/100
Director:
Joshua Marston
Stars: Tristan Halilaj, Sindi Lacej, Refet Abazi
Storyline This film's center is a family in Albania. The main characters are Rudina, the oldest daughter, and Nik, the oldest son. Both have a pretty normal life. Rudina is an A-student in high-school and Nik very popular. He just fell in love with one of his fellow students. Their father earns the families income with a little bread delivery service. For that he uses a short cut through the neighbours ground, but the neighbour doesn't necessarily like that. But the ground had actually belonged to Rudina's and Nik's family once. One day the conflict escalates and the neighbour gets killed by Rudina's and Nik's father and their uncle. Because only their uncle gets caught by the police and their father is able to hide, the old law of blood feud is against the family. They cannot leave their house. Only the women of the family are allowed to leave the house. So Rudina has to quit school and continue the bread delivery service of the father...
Back in the 15th.Century, a certain prince Leke Dukagjini gathered
together a collection of Albanian traditional customs and cultural
practices that came to be known as "The Kanun of Leke Dukagjini." This
collection was passed down by word of mouth from one generation to the
next, and has governed the way Albanians have behaved pretty much ever
since. Book Ten section three of the "Kanun of Leke" as it was commonly
referred to, deals specifically with the rules in regard to a dispute
between one neighbour and another. It states that, should a quarrel
between two neighbours, for whatever reason, escalate and turn violent
then the victim can invoke the age-old ritual of the blood feud, which
states that the victim has the right to kill all males in the
perpetrator's family. However, in a somewhat surprising twist, there is
also a tradition throughout Albania known as "Besa." Roughly
translated, "Besa" means, "to keep the promise" or "word of honour."
There's a saying in Albania that says: "Albanians would die rather than
break Besa." So while the men remain in their home, and at the
discretion of the victim and his family, they will not be killed for
the first twenty-four hours the blood feud has been preordained. Joshua
Marston's latest film, "The Forgiveness of Blood" – is set in modern
day Albania and tells the story of two families caught up in a blood
feud. Every day the father and daughter set off in their horse and cart
to deliver the bread to the people and café owners in the nearby
village. Obviously, they quicker they can deliver the bread the more
quickly they get paid. To this end, the father uses a neighbour's land
as a short cut. The neighbour resents this and has already placed large
stones to deter the father trespassing on his land. The father just
removes the stones and goes on his way. The very next day the father
finds his access completely blocked, with the neighbour standing there
waiting to see what will happen. They get into an argument, but the
neighbour refuses to budge. Eventually, the father has to take the long
way around. Director Joshua Marston's previous film, "Maria Full of
Grace" focused on the risks of becoming a drug mule, and the
consequences of putting one's life at on the line, quite literally, by
swallowing pellets of cocaine for a quick $5000 once the drugs are
smuggled into New York. What made this film stand out above the usual
kind of film dealing with the drug scene, is that it showed what the
consequences of such reckless behaviour can lead to, even though
Maria's decision to become a drug mule was borne out of desperation.
Similarly, "The Forgiveness of Blood" is not just a film about a blood
feud. It's a film about the far bigger issue of the how the average
Albanian is forever trying to escape his violent and troubled past,
first under the Ottoman Empire, and then under the Communist
dictatorship of Enver Hoxha. Like most despots, Enver Hoxha simply
eliminated dissent, by imprisoning thousands in forced-labour camps or
executing them for crimes such as alleged treachery or for disrupting
the proletarian dictatorship. In fact, for the only time in its
centuries old history, did the practice of blood feuds cease - brutally
stamped out by Enver Hoxha's Secret Police. The Communists were finally
voted out of power in 1990. Two years later in 1992, Albania became a
Republic. It wasn't long before Albanians woke up to the realisation
that the new government was no different from the old government.
Gradually the settling of scores by blood feud began to flourish once
more, even as the future for Albanians seemed bleak to the point of
despair. As the film unfolds, it's hard not to believe that one is
actually watching a documentary. This can in no small way be attributed
to the fact that the director chose to use a cast non-professional
actors, especially Sindi Lacej as the daughter, Refet Abazi as the
father, and Veton Osmani as the hot-headed neighbour – indeed, all the
'actors' in this remarkable film, do an outstanding job, and help shine
a light on a country that is many ways, will forever be stuck back in
the Dark Ages. P.S. Should you want to find out more about the history
of this country? Check out a book by Robert Carver called: "The
Accursed Mountains." It is a really fascinating look into this most
enigmatic of countries.
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