Avoiding the easy options of shooting a familiar story at home, Strickland took himself and his miniscule budget – he was writer, director and producer – to the Carpathian mountains to recount the tale of the titular Katalin Varga.
Cast out of her remote village after the truth about her son’s father is revealed, Katalin and her boy venture across country and into her past. With dialogue in Romanian and Hungarian, Strickland hasn’t exactly made a drama to fill the multiplexes, but he shows himself to be a filmmaker of genuine talent in the way he makes so much from so little.
Hilda Peter is superb as the proud Katalin, wishing for redemption but willing to settle for revenge. A director we’ll be hearing from again.
Katalin Varga (15)
****
Dir: Peter Strickland
With: Hilda Peter, Tibor Palffy
Glasgow Film Theatre and Filmhouse, Edinburgh
Katalin Varga
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