I give this film 5.7 which I'm rounding up to 6. This is not a good film and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.
It had the potential to be a good film, even a great one, but this opportunity was wasted. The acting is good, the sound is good, music, lighting, editing, cinematography, all the ingredients were good, but the script wasn't.
The idea of an Albanian blood feud in a Western European country is a brilliant one, but even though it's the central issue in the story, it's just not that well done.
The problem is the script itself. Even though it's based on a book, these adaptations don't always work out well. The book has so much more time to tell its story. The film has to do it in 2 hours. If the book is not suited for a film, you get a mediocre film. If you change too much, people complain that it's not similar to the book and give it low scores. It's a difficult enterprise.
This film's competition is not films like Infernal Affairs, The Departed, The Silence of the Lambs, etc. but a whole lot of excellent TV cop shows that have the expertise and the time to tell a long story.
A blood feud is something that needs time. You need a reason for the first murder, then you need retaliation. So far, it's just a revenge killing. You need at least one or two more to make it full vendetta. But murders of people we don't know or care about don't give the scale of this problem. Random characters dying on TV don't make you flinch. It's the murder of people you love/hate that make you react, but in 2 hours, there's no time for all that.
The story is not just about the Albanians, but about the police detectives. But it's the same thing with the cops. When Linda died, I just shrugged.
There are things that are just amateur though. For example, when they go through the camera at the boy's ceremony and instantly find the man they're looking for. Too easy.
I liked the hotel room trap with the porn and I wanted the film to be more of that.
Ultimately the only reason for anyone to watch this film is to see the Albanian vendettas on the screen. Albania is a poor country without much of a film industry, so other than The Forgiveness of Blood, this cultural practice doesn't get much screen time.
If you're not interested in that and are more into police dramas, this isn't a great one.
5.6/10
It had the potential to be a good film, even a great one, but this opportunity was wasted. The acting is good, the sound is good, music, lighting, editing, cinematography, all the ingredients were good, but the script wasn't.
The idea of an Albanian blood feud in a Western European country is a brilliant one, but even though it's the central issue in the story, it's just not that well done.
The problem is the script itself. Even though it's based on a book, these adaptations don't always work out well. The book has so much more time to tell its story. The film has to do it in 2 hours. If the book is not suited for a film, you get a mediocre film. If you change too much, people complain that it's not similar to the book and give it low scores. It's a difficult enterprise.
This film's competition is not films like Infernal Affairs, The Departed, The Silence of the Lambs, etc. but a whole lot of excellent TV cop shows that have the expertise and the time to tell a long story.
A blood feud is something that needs time. You need a reason for the first murder, then you need retaliation. So far, it's just a revenge killing. You need at least one or two more to make it full vendetta. But murders of people we don't know or care about don't give the scale of this problem. Random characters dying on TV don't make you flinch. It's the murder of people you love/hate that make you react, but in 2 hours, there's no time for all that.
The story is not just about the Albanians, but about the police detectives. But it's the same thing with the cops. When Linda died, I just shrugged.
There are things that are just amateur though. For example, when they go through the camera at the boy's ceremony and instantly find the man they're looking for. Too easy.
I liked the hotel room trap with the porn and I wanted the film to be more of that.
Ultimately the only reason for anyone to watch this film is to see the Albanian vendettas on the screen. Albania is a poor country without much of a film industry, so other than The Forgiveness of Blood, this cultural practice doesn't get much screen time.
If you're not interested in that and are more into police dramas, this isn't a great one.
5.6/10