Anazapta

I was curious about this movie, since the Brazilian DVD has a great mistake on the cover: makes reference to the year 1838 and the black plague. Being a fan and collector of movies, I decided to watch this movie of a story in the Middle Ages. And I found a surprisingly good, amoral and violent movie. The story actually takes place in 1328, and the first positive point to call my attention was the image of the Middle Ages town and inhabitants: poor and ignorant people, with dirty clothes, spoiled teeth, living in a dirty and muddy village. Therefore, a vision totally different from those showed in Hollywood movies, with fancy castles and villages with beautiful people. Second, it is a story of lust and revenge, very amoral and violent. The script presents the story in such a way that the viewer becomes aware of the situation at the same time as Matilda (Lena Headley), the main character. Indeed a good movie and fans of movies of Middle Ages will not be disappointed. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Anazapta"

I felt I was watching something from the 70s. It has strong adult themes and language and well-known actors, but I thought they all acted badly; it's as if everyone had been asked to do a poor job, editing, acting, directing, etc. Shame, for a film made in 2002, it all looks pretty dated.

Story about amoral revenge, cold, dark, seductive, cruel and brutal, splendid reflection of Middle Age atmosphere, mixture of tension and strange romance, tale about price of gestures and powerful force of past errors, about values and trust, about ghosts and crime as projection of community's soul.

In same aspects, a love story and, in fact, subtle exploration of existence significance.

A debate-film, with some aspects from Shakespeare or Marlowe, with flavor from Dostoevki and taste of Ingmar Bergman's "The Seventh Seal" but, very personal as structure and construction of end.

Film about old moral debt, about cruelty of a bleak era," Anazapta" is a mirror, with Greek tragedy as mat, image of human instincts, desires and secret fears, notion of justice and faith, greed, poltroonery and black angels. It is lucid introspection in the loops of deep reality beyond the words.

The acting, the dialogs, the lights and location are bones of a social corpse, without coffin, funeral or grave.

The innocence or the mercy are only illusions for a character in which single limb is memory beyond facts, illusions or regrets.

A destiny's butcher and his way.

And a very interesting presence of Lena Headey in magnificent role who transforms,in delicate and subtle manner, the nuances of atmosphere and the respiration of action.

Lena Headey is the perfect jewel for this mesmerizing film. She is surrounded by a great cast whose menacing and troubled characters make you shiver as if from the winter's cold. The film is bleak, brutal and thanks to Headey's seductive allure, utterly compelling. Both she and the film are more than worth the price of a ticket.

It's always great to see a film that, even when it's not a masterpiece of the genre, breaks the mold and stands high in the middle of the sea of mediocrity that average films create. Anazapta is one of those films.

Set in the middle age, it's very realistic in it's portrayal of how dirty, physically and emotionally that age was. The amorality and violence of the dark ages set the tone for a film about revenge and mystery in the time of the Black Plague.

A man is taken as prisoner by the inhabitants of a town. The village is suffering and needs money, and before the church takes the land, the widow of the lord of the land decides to trade the prisoner, who claims to be the son of a french nobleman in exchange of money. But the prisoner may not be who they think is, and to complicate the things, a mysterious disease similar to the plague is killing people who may be part of the mystery surrounding the prisoner.

A very interesting mix of suspense, horror and mystery set in the middle-ages is what makes this film to shine. The script, although a little bit underdeveloped, still makes justice to the premise and what we have is a chilling tale that keeps the interest of the audience who is led through the horrors of the ages.

Certainly, It's one of the most realistic portrayals of the middle age, it moves away from the nobility of knights and princes and shows us the harsh reality of corrupt institutions, dirty and poor villagers, and tired knights whose only ambition is to live the next day.

The cast is good, and while it may not be the best acting, it's better than expected in a low-budget film. In fact, the entire film looks as if it's budget were big but in fact it's low.

Maybe it's biggest flaw lays in the fact that it leaves many things unexplained, the script ends in a way that maybe will leave many people unsatisfied. I have read comments of people who could not understand the ending. I'm not sure if I understood it, but I enjoyed the film.

It's a good movie about the middle ages, and it definitely deserves a look.

Solid 7/10