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.

Serious flaws prevent any immersion into this story. Characters are two dimensional and poorly acted bar one. Difficult to find any emotional attachment to the always smirking "rape victim" or the labouriously recited boy. There are various "atmospheric" shots in the film with artistic syntax but these lack any artistic meaning and form a completely disparate experience. Just about any movie shot in rural Transylvania will have this effect and most will do a much better job. One memorable example is a blurry close up shot of flowing water pulling into focus over 15 seconds to some grasses in the foreground. The story is somewhat fresh, but nothing really new there either. The resolution is rushed, emotionless and fake. You can find much better films in this category. Avoid.

a magic and a surreal story, very dark but very human; a story about destiny, punishment, revenge; an ethical ancestral story set in a magical time and place; we find only 3 things related with nowadays in scenes less than 30 seconds : cell phones, cars and the sound of a radio - everything else is eternal; similar with a Greek mythical story; katalin varga wants to punish but it's also punished for her actions; there is a justice - an action - reaction law that governs the live of the people in that Transylvanian villages // there is a justice - an action - reaction law that governs the live of the people in that Transylvanian villages //amazing sound , amazing images // 9 out of 10