a review of The Savage Hunt of King Stach

Dikaya okhota korolya Stakha http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0128164/

In the short filmed interview with the director that is one of the extra’s on this disc (besides filmographies, a few photo’s and three trailers of other movies) the topic of genre is discussed. Ruscico released this DVD not in their skazka / fairytale collection but filed it under “mysticism” as a mystical thriller. While it clearly has the form or at least the atmosphere of gothic horror, the director claims he wanted a realistic approach to the characters and therefore downplayed the fantastical elements that are part of the story. Everything has an explanation.

Not everything is explained though. The aim of this is not only to create a sense of mystery but also to make the viewer realise the story is not the only thing this movie is about. This approach of the director has worked as the film was invited to a lot of festivals and won many prizes. The undercurrent of social commentary (or “strong anti-totalitarian sentiment” as someone at the Toronto film festival apparently remarked to the director) is not the strongest part of the movie for me however.

A combination of Russian melancholia and a soundtrack filled with the tolling of bells and other kinds of slow and down tuned percussion with images that are a combination of Hammer studio gothic and the painterly style of Aleksandr Sokurov creates a wonderful gloomy world. A world peopled with eccentric characters. There is the student looking for folklore and legends. And the occupants of the castle he visits that are haunted by no less than three of those: the little man, the blue lady and the savage hunt of king Stach. The latter a band of undead horsemen that swore to have their vengeance on the occupants of the house for twenty generations after Stach was betrayed and send mortally wounded on horseback into a swamp to die.

In one dreamlike sequence in the swamps the student is chased by the savage hunt who are filmed through reeds, in slow-motion and with a distorting lens creating a very haunting effect (or could it be an aspect ratio artefact? I don’t think so and, anyway, it works and made me think of Sokurov again). They really look like a horde of undead riders from hell! Together with the sense of mystery this all makes for a very enjoyable experience. I only wish the director would have indulged more in the genre elements because the story in itself, and certainly the way in which it gets resolved, has not thát much originality or excitement to offer.

http://www.ruscico.com/dvd.php?lang=en&dvd=390&PHPSESSID=837bfb711aaf71d79554611862a52c6e