Alive! / Gjallë (2009) [Re-UP]

Posted By: Someonelse
Date: May 10, 2015

Alive! (2009)
DVD9 | VIDEO_TS | PAL 16:9 | 01:29:48 | 4,84 Gb
Audio: Albanian AC3 2.0 @ 384 Kbps | Subs: English, French, German
Genre: Drama, Family

Director: Artan Minarolli
Stars: Nik Xhelilaj, Xhevdet Ferri, Bruno Shllaku

Twenty-two-year-old Koli is studying at Tirana university. When he hears of his father’s death, he returns to his native mountain village in the north to attend the funeral. During a walk through the countryside of his childhood, someone takes a shot at him. In a state of shock, the young man discovers that he is part of a blood feud sparked by his grandfather sixty years earlier. He goes to see the family to whom, according to custom, he owes his life – and, in doing so, he makes the acquaintance of the murderer whom fate has determined will take it. Away from his modern urban environment, Koli suddenly finds himself in a world of ancient, inexorable rituals, from which he is unable to extricate himself even after his return to Tirana. How deeply entrenched in people are the traditions of their forebears? And to what extent are they able to accept them as part of their modern, superficial lifestyle? How far-reaching is the perception of one’s own destiny and affinity with one’s roots? Director Artan Minarolli dedicated his film drama to the eighty-six illegal immigrants who drowned off the coast of Italy during an attempt to flee their native country in March 1997.

IMDB

I grew up at a time that made fun of “the Hatfields and the McCoys” – America’s preeminent example of family feuds. Apparently that blood feud started in Kentucky in 1882 and brought the deaths of a dozen family members over an eleven-year period. We thought it was OK to laugh at “backwards mountain people” that shot and killed each other rather than letting “the law” take care of disputes. There was even an Abbott and Costello movie, COMING ROUND THE MOUNTAIN (1951), which featured such a feud and may have been the catalyst for reviving tales of the Hatfield and McCoy families during my childhood. In 1950 a Bugs Bunny cartoon spoofed the on-going bloodletting. The TV quiz show with the name “Family Feud” ran for ten years and commercialized the entire idea while simultaneously making light of such battles. Later in life I even discovered a delightful book called Ten Texas Feuds (C.L. Sonnischen, 1957).


But such seemingly endless, generations-long vendettas aren’t really funny, and Albanian director Artan Minarolli makes that abundantly clear in his suspenseful film ALIVE! (2009). In some ways the remote, mountainous villages of northern Albania of today may not be psychologically that different from those of Kentucky and Appalachia in the 19th century. Far removed from effective police forces and enmeshed in centuries-old traditions and memories, families can very well carry on long friendships through arranged marriages and long enmities caused by impetuous acts.


In Minarolli’s film, Koli is a sophomore in college in the capital city of Tirana. He is good-looking, has a girlfriend, and studies Albanian literature. He seems to be thoroughly enjoying life, but then his sister’s husband Rok suddenly appears and takes him back to his remote village by bus, ferry, minibus, and foot. The natural setting is stunningly beautiful with hills and mountains and lots of greenery. But the cause for the return after a six-year absence is sad. Koli’s father has died before his arrival. His life had been hard – getting hurt in a mining accident and then confined to a wheelchair in a place with nothing but mountain pathways. After the Christian burial, Koli is informed of something his father had always kept from him – the blood feud between the Frangus and another family. Fan had always wanted to protect his son from this family dilemma, but since he himself was shielded from being killed because of his being handicapped, the guns now point at Koli, despite the “Great Assembly of the Mountaineers” in 1991, which supposedly called for the end of such ongoing battles. But apparently not with some families.


Koli doesn’t understand why he can’t just return to Tirana and continue his studies – especially since he himself didn’t kill anyone. But that won’t do since there are many rules of conduct in such matters, all detailed in the Kanun, the set of traditional laws in Albania dating back to the 15th century. The Frangu family will hire a negotiator, but meanwhile Koli must be hidden with a friend of the family, far from his home village. Perhaps, with time, the opposing family will “forgive” the blood debt.


Thinking he can take care of the problem himself, Koli sneaks out of his family home one night and goes to a nearby house – the home of people he never considered “enemies.” Tradition requires they allow a stranger to enter their home for food and shelter, but when he reveals his identity, the friendliness ends. Still, because of honor they cannot kill him in the house. The next morning, surrounded by even more members of that family, he asks to be allowed to return to Tirana to study. All they will grant is a besa of three days – a traditional word of honor not to kill him during that time. Although federal law seems to have little reach in this area, they are still very bound to the rules and regulations of their traditional code of law, passed down orally until being written down in the 20th century.


So, Koli goes to stay for an indefinite time with a friend of the family – Zef, who has three children. While there, Koli sees what life is like in this area where many of the young people have dreams far from the lives of their parents. But Koli quickly understands that his free live of easy dating is impossible here. There are several mysteries in the area also – an attractive young woman who seems to be almost captive in a modern home with a pool, a boy who rides by on horseback at unexpected times, and a man hidden behind sunglasses who seems to know too much about Koli. It may look somewhat pastoral from the outside, but the more he gets to know the area, the more Koli becomes suspicious of certain people. There is even another man there who is involved in a blood feud. Tiku must keep his family locked up behind a metal gate. Even though he drives a minibus from village to village and seems always happy, the threat of death always hangs over his head. Is this a harbinger of Koli’s future?


Artan Minarolli read about a young college student who was trying to get to Italy. Once he learned the reasons for his emigration from Albania, the filmmaker became even more intrigued and realized that he had the basis for what could be his second feature film. Besides telling an interesting story, Minarolli also simply wanted to show his country to the world, a world which had often scoffed at his country when it was ruled for over forty years by Marxist-Leninist-Maoist Enver Hoxha, who forced his subjects to build over 500,000 concrete “bunkers” from which they would defend the country against “invaders.” He was a classic example of governance by paranoia. Even with this agenda to showcase the beauty of the Albanian countryside, Minarolli had to wait for financing from the Albanian Film Center, which can fund only two feature films per year. Once he had secured his own country’s support, he could then seek extra financing in other European countries.


Doubtlessly it is impossible for someone like Minarolli, no matter how talented, to make a fulltime living from filmmaking in Albania at this time. The 54-year-old is also an actor, a producer, stage director, documentarian, and short story writer. His day job seems to be running the Albanian Center of Cinematography.


ALIVE! is a very accomplished film which maintains an interesting mix of suspense and stories of young love. Minarolli hasn’t tried to create any complex structure but instead tells his story in a rather straight-forward manner, withholding information from time to time in order to increase tension and suspense. His principal cast seems to be experienced performers, especially Nik Xhelilaj, on whose shoulders the bulk of the film rests. Judging from his careful writing, direction, and structuring, I think that Minarolli will be someone to watch, provided he can get financing for his films. ALIVE! played at the 2010 SEEFest in Los Angeles and has been seen and applauded in various film festivals around the world.
Austin Film Society

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E2B3B50E42A8A797E443BB5633E85CDE *Dgjale.avaxhome.ru.part09.rar
B3E2AC178A8D0B4483612D02592CCA0C *Dgjale.avaxhome.ru.part10.rar
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