Karbon

A 180° turn and the first Bulava's film that I can say I liked without any “buts”. I really dig this type of serious, depressive and unsettling philosophy that doesn’t care too much about what the viewer says and goes its own way. A guy hits a tree with an axe for almost five minutes, if it was only 30 seconds, it would be more viewer-friendly, but I like the longer version better. The black and white really helps the atmosphere, its very suitable for the topic. The cinematography is great, some of the shots (the silhouettes on the heap, the descent into the water) are simply brilliant. The story is quite minimalistic, which I don’t mind, on the contrary, I think that after the previous two films (with too much narrative), this is a step in the right direction – you don’t need that much dialogue to explain and move forward a relatively complex plot structure, which leaves more room to create an atmosphere, etc. To summarise: I prefer these minimalistic artsy parables over, for instance, splatter-fests like Oči starého Kostelníka, or homages to the old Giallo movies, like Šest prstů v zeleném. Many people (most, I reckon) will think the opposite, and they won’t have it very easy with this film. In any case, I’m rooting for it. (28.02.2014)