Black plague

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.

Don't let the sexy video title get your hopes up, the famous plague is only mentioned in passing. But Lena Headey cuts a handsome figure in period dress and a chastity belt kowtowing to a sweaty-faced Iain MacNeice as a patriarch resembling Jabbah the Hutt proudly flourishing his huge collection of medieval porn.

Extremely contemporary swearing is used along with a smattering of French and archaic expressions like "Let's see you smirking with a noose around your neck", while the viewer is regaled with copious quantities of gore and sights like limbs breaking off, lots of bad teeth and flesh covered in pustules, and a character with a false nose who declares that "If the Lord was good enough to put a hole in my face who am I not to use it?"

The use of slow motion already looks dated and the cast all take it all a lot more seriously than you probably will.

"Anazapta" is one of those movies about the medieval times which does not have any characters boasting a bright, ultra-white-teeth Hollywood smile. The whole so to say "medievalness" is shown very naturally, i.e. people are dirty, rude, there's violence and brief nudity, etc. And this is great. This is the only thing that provides the movies with above the average rating IMHO. The story is twisted just perfectly for ending-guessers to figure out the grand finale some 20 to 15 minutes before time, but the very ending scene has left me wondering. Anyway, in my TV-program the film was described as a historical thriller and thriller it was indeed.

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

Being an avid admirer of director Alberto Sciamma´s first film "Killer Tongue" I did not hesitate to watch his new movie while it was shown at the "Fantasy-Filmfest" Germany. I cannot say, I´m disappointed. But i did not turn out the way I expected it. Compared to his first movie, an extravaganza beyond compare, "Anazapta" looks too arty to capture my benevolent attention. There have been some great movies on the middle ages, like "Flesh and Blood", "Jabberwocky" or "Hour of the Pig". In all these movies the middle ages are so dirty, amoral and violent as you always thaught thy would have been. "Anazapta" makes no exception, and that´s the biggest failure. It does not show anything you haven´t seen before. The movie looks very tv-like. There is no spark. Compared to the in some aspects similar "Hour of the Pig" it´s a major disappointment. Although it´s twisted, you lose interest in getting to the final twist. Don´t misunderstand me. It´s not a bad movie. I have seen much, much worse. But my expectations were higher.