Review of ACROSS THE FOREST: TALES FROM TRANSYLVANIA
A quick disclaimer before I proceed: I don't typically review movies and books due to time constraints. The film I'm about to review piqued my interest because of its extreme uniqueness, so I made an exception to the rule.
I had the pleasure of viewing Justin Blair and Matthew Vincent's documentary Across the Forest: Tales from Transylvania, a rare look at the remaining supernatural beliefs of Romanian villagers. The film contains no dramatic reenactments or special effects. Instead, the filmmakers let aging Romanians sit and speak about first- or second-hand experiences with creatures of legend, such as the vampiric strigoi, werewolves, corpse brides and grooms, village witches, and even dwarfs. Some of the villagers smile and laugh when spinning their tales; others are deadly serious and swear their experiences genuinely occurred. One woman even cries.
The soundtrack is sparse, and oftentimes the only music accompanying scenes of the Romanian countryside are the haunting strains of a peasant woman's song. The local Transylvanians never mention the word Dracula. Nightmarish drawings highlight the villagers' accounts of the supernatural, but the most chilling aspect of the documentary is the men and women's wholehearted belief in creatures of the night. It's easy to forget these are individuals in modern-day Romania, not people from centuries past. One woman describes how she almost lost her horses to a corpse raised by the devil, so she and her cousin secretively drove a nail through the dead woman's heart to chase the evil away. Another woman recounts her run-ins with the Hag of Tuesday Night, who turns vengeful and deadly when people work on Tuesdays.
Occasionally, young relatives of the elderly interviewees wander by in the background. The Romanian youth wear jeans and athletic clothing, even though the storytellers don more traditional garb like scarves and long skirts. You can see the modern world closing in around old-world Europe, and one has to wonder if these deep-rooted tales will disappear along with the older generations. Thankfully, Justin Blair and Matthew Vincent have captured the dying embers of these ancient legends and preserved them in seventy-nine minutes of unforgettable film.
, a rare look at the remaining supernatural beliefs of Romanian villagers. The film contains no dramatic reenactments or special effects. Instead, the filmmakers let aging Romanians sit and speak about first- or second-hand experiences with creatures of legend, such as the vampiric strigoi, werewolves, corpse brides and grooms, village witches, and even dwarfs. Some of the villagers smile and laugh when spinning their tales; others are deadly serious and swear their experiences genuinely occurred. One woman even cries.
2 Comments - Join the conversation:
I'm convinced. I want to see this flick.
Definitely see it. It's fascinating.
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