November was one odd ball hallucinogenic experience that I will never forget. This Estonian black and white feature film mixes classical black and white fantasy with a dash of horror. The final product of November is better described as one of the weirdest films I've ever witnessed. There's plenty of odd visuals throughout it's 115 minute run time. This includes the opening scene of the film, where a cursed object grab's a cow and starts flying in mid-air across a vast Estonian forest. If that doesn't sound strange to you, you ain't seen nothin yet. There's also ghosts, a scene where a group of people put their own pants on top of there heads, a scene where the protagonist meets a snowman who teaches him poetry, treasure hunts, suicidal sleepwalking, the devil himself, and even more extensive Estonian folklore elements.
At the start of film however, I began to hate on the it. I was utterly confused by the events taken place and why they were occurring. However, as I continued watching, I started getting comfortable with the universe of where the story was taken place. It's a universe that we have never seen before. A universe with a diverse mythical lore and symbolism. With this understanding in mind, November personally captivated me on what it was trying to say. The film itself is about the dangers of jealousy and romantic relationships. It's done in a very storybook like way. However, the way the film executes said structure is wholly unique.
November is a film made up of two different things. The first are scenes related to a very linear story structure. The second are scenes related to a very non-linear story structure with plenty of visual metaphor's and different narrative devices (most of which take up nearly the entirety of the film.) This is what made November so special in my opinion. Of course, it's nowhere near perfect. The film is filled with a repetitive soundtrack, semi-decent performances, and a couple of scenes that do not have any emotional weight in which there symbolic reasoning does not aid the film. This is unfortunate due to the missed potential on what the film was trying to say.
November is most definitely not for everybody. However, I thoroughly enjoyed it and it's one fantasy horror that shouldn't be missed by any art house cinema fanatic. If you enjoy the animation work of Kaspar Jancis and Priit Tender, I would also highly implore you to see this film. It's strange. It's odd ball. It's simply the weirdest fever dream you will ever have while you're awake.
Rating:
6.5/10
No comments:
Post a Comment