"Obcina"

Part one of the succesful "Ruthenian Trilogy"
Probably the most spectacular mountain village in Maramures.

EUR 12,- DVD
EUR 5,- Download the film
Duration: 80 min
OBCINA is a small village hidden in the mountains. During summer dozens of Ruthenians live and work there. Before winter all of them leave the mountain village, that is exposed to extreme weather. Only the family of the cooper Stefan Cut houlds out on the mountain as they do so for many years now.

During this time they try to defend themselves and their animals against invading wolves in order to survive with the few provisions they cultivated and harvested during the year. So far they always succeeded, but now a momentous accident threatens their existence.

Stefan had frozen his fingers while ascending from the village. Now he is very frightened to undergo the painful amputation. But the family needs his important manpopwer to survive. The hard facts convince him in the end to dare undertake the necessary steps. So the viewer stays in feverish excitement with Stefan for the success of this surgical operation and apprehends with joy, that he can work again on the mountain.

Nevertheless the family wants to leave the mountain during wintertime. But like every year nobody believes them. In this moving events further inhabitants of the mountain village are intermingled and set filmic charmingly in scene. There is the devils fiddler Ivan, the philosopher Vasile and families with many children. They make for summery turbulences on the mountain. But will the Cuts now, as the last family, leave the mountain in winter?

The British documentary filmmaker Michael Yorke on "Obcina"

1. A deeply magical film about the mindset of Romanian peasants.
2. Superbly shot and editied. Great craftsmanship.
3. The music and FX track in this film is masterly.
4. A very powerful, gentle and insightful narrative structure, beautifully paced. You must see it in its entirety to appreciate it. Don’t fast forward. The slow realisation of the main characters alcoholism is brilliantly handled with an epic dénouement that then goes on to an even better resolution. Great story-telling skill.
5. Incredible access over a long period.
6. Superbly authored.
7. a deeply poetic filmmaking style with not a boring second in it.
8. The way that all the sub-characters bounce off and reflect on the central character is brillant.
9. Superb contextualisation."