The Forgiveness of Blood
Winner of the Silver Bear for Best Screenplay at the Berlin Film Festival, the powerful second feature from Joshua Marston (MARIA FULL OF GRACE) tells the story of an Albanian family caught up in a blood feud. Nik (Tristan Halilaj) is a carefree teenager in a small town with a crush on the school beauty and ambitions to start his own small internet business. His world is suddenly up-ended when his father becomes entangled in a dispute that leaves a fellow villager murdered. According to a centuries-old code of law known as the Kanun, Nik's family owes a life in return. Nik finds himself the prime target and becomes confined to home while his younger sister Rudina (Sindi Lacej) is forced to leave school and take over their father's business. Marston transports us into a world rarely seen on screen, where tradition and modernity clash putting young lives in the balance.
- Director
- Joshua Marston
- Actors
- Tristan Halilaj, Sindi Lacej, Refet Abazi, Ilire Vinca Celaj, Cun Lajci
- Genre
- Drama
- Run Time
- 1 hour 49 minutes
Reviews from Rotten Tomatoes
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An immersive look at the power of archaic traditions to sabotage a transitioning culture.
Jeannette Catsoulis, NPR, 02.24.2012 -
Marston artfully uses handheld cameras and natural light and has a nice eye for compositions.
Walter V. Addiego, San Francisco Chronicle, 03.08.2012 -
"The Forgiveness of Blood'' works as a subtle but insistent metaphor for a modern generation trapped by the shibboleths of their elders.
Ty Burr, Boston Globe, 03.08.2012 -
What seems missing is a good notion of how this Albanian society functions on a daily basis. Surely a family cannot live under house arrest forever?
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times, 03.07.2012
