Notícias

At the very outset, Ivan Salatić’s “Wondrous is the Silence of My Master” claims the guise of a tale’s fragments rediscovered years later. It’s composed of not so much scenes as whispers of growing disquiet. Scattered notes of the guardsman to the de facto ruler of Montenegrin tribes steer the trajectory of events harking back to the 19th century. Duko is an eagerly compliant servant to his master, the poet and bishop Morlak. He wields the power of a cult leader, his vocabulary sliding frequently to that of parables. A threat of invasion compounded by a creeping sickness drives Morlak to resettle with his daughters in a more hospitable, unperturbed clime in southern Italy. Duko follows silently but soon starts grudging the relocation stretching beyond his initial fathom.

This film is spare and unnerving. It is distilled to a hazy outline of perceptions that incite a concealed restlessness.

Wondrous Is the Silence of My Master, director Ivan Salatić’s sophomore feature, will be world premiering in the Tiger Competition of the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR), which runs Jan. 30-Feb. 9. THR can here present an exclusive trailer for the cinematic reflection on identity, displacement, and home.

Written and directed by Salatić, the movie stars Marko Pogačar, Croatia’s most translated contemporary poet in his debut film role, Luka Petrone, Jakov Zovko, and Vanja Matic.

The film is set in 19th-century Montenegro “where tribes led by a poet and a bishop named Morlak (Pogačar) are locked in an age-old struggle against a common enemy,” according to a synopsis. “When Morlak falls gravely ill, he sets out in search of a cure, leaving behind his war-torn homeland. Along with his daughter and two loyal servants, Morlak settles in a remote house in southern Italy, hoping for healing and peace.”

Torn between duty and homesickness,...