Joshua Marston, the director of the 2004 Oscar nominated Maria Full of Grace finally returns with his next feature length narrative, the Silver Berlin Bear for Best Screenplay winning (2011 Berlin International Film Festival) The Forgiveness of Blood, a blood feud tale set in modern day Albania. The Los Angeles native once again proves he has considerable talents for focusing on subjects not often depicted by American filmmakers, with tense, enthralling narratives. With this latest feature, Marston sets his sights on a country not often documented in the annals of cinema.
The film opens with a brief characterization of main protagonists Nik (Tristan Halilaj) and his sister, Rudina (Sindi Lacej). Both are currently students, and Nik is close to graduating from high school, discussing plans to open an internet café, and courting a female peer in his class. However, the film succumbs to its predicament rather quickly. Two patriarchs are sparring over...
The film opens with a brief characterization of main protagonists Nik (Tristan Halilaj) and his sister, Rudina (Sindi Lacej). Both are currently students, and Nik is close to graduating from high school, discussing plans to open an internet café, and courting a female peer in his class. However, the film succumbs to its predicament rather quickly. Two patriarchs are sparring over...
- 10/16/2012
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry (15)
(Alison Klayman, 2012, Us) Ai Weiwei, Danqing Chen, Ying Gao. 91 mins
Art and activism merge in this fascinating inside portrait of China's best known artist, which conveys both the roots of Ai's provocations and the authorities' paranoid responses to them. He comes across as a fearless creator, a reluctant hero, a committed campaigner and a fallible human being, treading a perilous line between the adoring global art market and China's Kafkaesque state apparatus.
360 (15)
(Fernando Meirelles, 2011, UK/Aus/Fra/Bra) Rachel Weisz, Anthony Hopkins, Jude Law. 110 mins
Suffering from a surfeit of international stars and locations, this join-the-dots drama zips between a series of emotional episodes without ever gaining much momentum.
The Dinosaur Project (12A)
(Sid Bennett, 2012, UK) Natasha Loring, Matt Kane, Peter Brooke. 83 mins
Chatty Brit explorers regret discovering a modern-day Lost World in the Congo in this low-budget cross between Monsters and Jurassic Park.
The Forgiveness Of Blood (12A)
(Joshua Marston,...
(Alison Klayman, 2012, Us) Ai Weiwei, Danqing Chen, Ying Gao. 91 mins
Art and activism merge in this fascinating inside portrait of China's best known artist, which conveys both the roots of Ai's provocations and the authorities' paranoid responses to them. He comes across as a fearless creator, a reluctant hero, a committed campaigner and a fallible human being, treading a perilous line between the adoring global art market and China's Kafkaesque state apparatus.
360 (15)
(Fernando Meirelles, 2011, UK/Aus/Fra/Bra) Rachel Weisz, Anthony Hopkins, Jude Law. 110 mins
Suffering from a surfeit of international stars and locations, this join-the-dots drama zips between a series of emotional episodes without ever gaining much momentum.
The Dinosaur Project (12A)
(Sid Bennett, 2012, UK) Natasha Loring, Matt Kane, Peter Brooke. 83 mins
Chatty Brit explorers regret discovering a modern-day Lost World in the Congo in this low-budget cross between Monsters and Jurassic Park.
The Forgiveness Of Blood (12A)
(Joshua Marston,...
- 8/10/2012
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Oct. 16, 2012
Price: DVD $29.95, Blu-ray $39.95
Studio: Criterion
Tristan Halilaj and Sindi Lacej are forced to grow up quickly in The Forgiveness of Blood.
A tough coming-of-age drama, 2011’s The Forgiveness of Blood is the second feature by writer-director Joshua Marston, who broke out in 2004 with his Oscar-nominated movie Maria Full of Grace, about a young Colombian woman working as a drug mule
In his follow-up to Maria, Marston turns his camera on another corner of the world: contemporary northern Albania, a place still troubled by the ancient custom of inter-familial blood feuds. From this reality, Marston sculpts a fictional narrative about a teenage brother (Tristan Halilaj) and sister (Sindi Lacej) who are physically and emotionally trapped in a cycle of violence, a result of their father’s entanglement with a rival clan over a piece of land.
The Forgiveness of Blood received a limited release to theaters in the U.
Price: DVD $29.95, Blu-ray $39.95
Studio: Criterion
Tristan Halilaj and Sindi Lacej are forced to grow up quickly in The Forgiveness of Blood.
A tough coming-of-age drama, 2011’s The Forgiveness of Blood is the second feature by writer-director Joshua Marston, who broke out in 2004 with his Oscar-nominated movie Maria Full of Grace, about a young Colombian woman working as a drug mule
In his follow-up to Maria, Marston turns his camera on another corner of the world: contemporary northern Albania, a place still troubled by the ancient custom of inter-familial blood feuds. From this reality, Marston sculpts a fictional narrative about a teenage brother (Tristan Halilaj) and sister (Sindi Lacej) who are physically and emotionally trapped in a cycle of violence, a result of their father’s entanglement with a rival clan over a piece of land.
The Forgiveness of Blood received a limited release to theaters in the U.
- 7/30/2012
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
It feels like only yesterday that we were talking about the best films of 2011, and yet here we are, nearly at the end of June, and we've seen pretty much everything that the first half of the year has to offer. So with the mid-point of 2012 nearly upon us, we thought we'd look over the best films we've seen in theaters over the last six months.
And it's not been a terrible year so far. There have been a few real stinkers and some disappointments, but there's also been some decent blockbuster fare and a bevy of foreign language and independent films that have been serious treats for filmgoers. How many of these will still be on our year-end lists come December remains to be seen; there's some tough competition on the way. But all in all, the first part of this year at the movies could have been a lot worse.
And it's not been a terrible year so far. There have been a few real stinkers and some disappointments, but there's also been some decent blockbuster fare and a bevy of foreign language and independent films that have been serious treats for filmgoers. How many of these will still be on our year-end lists come December remains to be seen; there's some tough competition on the way. But all in all, the first part of this year at the movies could have been a lot worse.
- 6/21/2012
- by The Playlist Staff
- The Playlist
Film: The Forgiveness of Blood (2011) Cast includes: Refet Abazi, Tristan Halilaj, Sindi Lacej, Ilire Vinca Celaj Director: Joshua Marston (Maria Full of Grace) Genre: Drama, Albanian with subtitles (109 minutes) Northern Albania is a picturesque region caught between the old world and the new. Bread deliveries are made daily by primitive horse-drawn carts, while cell phones have become a necessity of life for teenagers. On his bread delivery route, the shortcut Mark takes across Sokol's land was negotiated decades ago by Mark's grandfather. Now Sokol wants to block the right of way. When Mark's teenaged son Nik helps out, they move the rocks and go through. At the local café, the men from Sokol's family sit across from Mark, Nik and Uncle Zev. The friendly jousting about the rocks has a decidedly nasty edge. Mark tells a customer, "With all due respect, Sokol is an idiot." "You're both idiots," she replies.
- 3/6/2012
- by Leslie Sisman
- Moviefone
Title: The Forgiveness of Blood Director: Joshua Marston Starring: Tristan Halilaj, Sindi Lacej, Refet Abazi, Zana Hasaj, Veton Osmani, Ilire Vinca Celaj, Cun Lajci Winner of the Silver Bear Award for Best Screenplay at last year’s Berlin Film Festival, “The Forgiveness of Blood,” from writer-director Joshua Marston (“Maria Full of Grace”), details a simmering contempt between two present day Albanian clans — think the Montagues and Capulets, minus any love story – that boils over into a blood feud that slowly rips a family apart when a land dispute leaves one man dead. Like 2009′s “The Stoning of Soraya M” and “Ajami,” as well as a small handful of other foreign films, Marston’s movie...
- 2/25/2012
- by bsimon
- ShockYa
The Forgiveness of Blood
Directed by: Joshua Marston
Cast: Tristan Halilaj, Sindi Lacej, Refet Abazi
Running Time: 1 hr 50 min
Rating: Not Rated
Showtimes at Piff: 2/10 8:30pm at Cinemagic, 2/12 5:00pm at Lloyd Center Complete Piff Schedule
Plot: After years of bickering, Mark and his brother kill their neighbor over a land dispute. He runs from police, and incurs a blood debt, meaning any males in his family could be killed to make things even. This forces his sons to stay inside, and his daughter must quit school and work to keep the family afloat.
Who’S It For? The kids seem remarkably similar to American teens, making the film really relatable.
Overall
Marston’s last feature, Maria Full of Grace, felt like a foreign film though it took place in the Us. This time, he shoots the whole film in Albania, with no English at all. A family falls...
Directed by: Joshua Marston
Cast: Tristan Halilaj, Sindi Lacej, Refet Abazi
Running Time: 1 hr 50 min
Rating: Not Rated
Showtimes at Piff: 2/10 8:30pm at Cinemagic, 2/12 5:00pm at Lloyd Center Complete Piff Schedule
Plot: After years of bickering, Mark and his brother kill their neighbor over a land dispute. He runs from police, and incurs a blood debt, meaning any males in his family could be killed to make things even. This forces his sons to stay inside, and his daughter must quit school and work to keep the family afloat.
Who’S It For? The kids seem remarkably similar to American teens, making the film really relatable.
Overall
Marston’s last feature, Maria Full of Grace, felt like a foreign film though it took place in the Us. This time, he shoots the whole film in Albania, with no English at all. A family falls...
- 2/10/2012
- by Megan Lehar
- The Scorecard Review
The Forgiveness of Blood Trailer. Joshua Marston‘s The Forgiveness of Blood (2011) movie trailer stars Refet Abazi, Tristan Halilaj, Sindi Lacej, and Ilire Vinca Celaj. The Forgiveness of Blood‘s plot synopsis: “This film’s center is a family in Albania. The main characters are Rudina, the oldest daughter, and Nik, the oldest son. Both have a pretty normal life. Rudina is an A-student in high-school and Nik very popular. He just fell in love with one of his fellow students. Their father earns the families income with a little bread delivery service. For that he uses a short cut through the neighbours ground, but the neighbour doesn’t necessarily like that. But the ground had actually belonged to Rudina’s and Nik’s family once.
One day the conflict escalates and the neighbour gets killed by Rudina’s and Nik’s father and their uncle. Because only their uncle...
One day the conflict escalates and the neighbour gets killed by Rudina’s and Nik’s father and their uncle. Because only their uncle...
- 1/21/2012
- by filmbook
- Film-Book
It is has been quite some time since seeing the work of director Joshua Marston. Outside of a segment in the anthology New York, I Love You, his work hasn’t hit the big screen since the Oscar-nominated Maria Full of Grace. He finally returns this year with the family drama The Forgiveness of Blood. Premiering at the Berlin Film Festival (and nabbing a Silver Bear for Best Screenplay), it is has gone on to appear at Telluride, Toronto, London and more.
The trailer has hit via Apple and it looks like a tense drama with strong characters, not unlike his previous film. I haven’t heard much buzz for it outside of festivals, so I wonder if it lives up to his other work, but we’ll be able to check it out next month via IFC Films. See the trailer and poster below for the film starring Tristan Halilaj,...
The trailer has hit via Apple and it looks like a tense drama with strong characters, not unlike his previous film. I haven’t heard much buzz for it outside of festivals, so I wonder if it lives up to his other work, but we’ll be able to check it out next month via IFC Films. See the trailer and poster below for the film starring Tristan Halilaj,...
- 1/19/2012
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
When "Maria Full Of Grace" arrived in 2004, the film won critical praise that was carried all the way to an Oscar nomination for Catalina Sandino Moreno, and marked the arrival of director Joshua Marston. It seemed like the world was an oyster for Marston, who honed his chops following the hit film with some television work, and contributed a segment to the omnibus "New York, I Love You." However, his followup feature "The Forgiveness Of Blood," arriving six years after 'Grace,' went in a direction no one could have guessed. The film is an Albanian language drama, centering on a blood feud between two families, told through the eyes of the brother and sister pairing of one of the affected families, Nik and Rudina (non-actors Tristan Halilaj and Sindi Lacej). It's some ambitious fare, and the results have earned praise from nearly every place where "The Forgiveness Of Blood" has landed.
- 1/4/2012
- The Playlist
The Forgiveness of Blood
Directed by Joshua Marston
United States, Albania, 2011
Following a seven-year feature-film hiatus, director Joshua Marston returns with The Forgiveness of Blood, a coming-of-age tale set in a small Albanian village. Nik (Tristan Halilaj) is a typical teenager – chasing girls, and riding around on a friend’s motorcycle. When a longstanding feud with a neighboring family erupts into violence, Nik is forced into house-arrest, according to the laws of the village. His sister Rudina, (Sindi Lacej) the brains of the family, leaves school to take over the daily bread delivery, and their father remains on the lam for a murder he may or may not have directly instigated.
While politically backgrounded, Marston’s films aren’t political, per se. As with 2004’s Maria Full of Grace, that being the better film of the two, The Forgiveness of Blood finds a young protagonist in a dire situation and...
Directed by Joshua Marston
United States, Albania, 2011
Following a seven-year feature-film hiatus, director Joshua Marston returns with The Forgiveness of Blood, a coming-of-age tale set in a small Albanian village. Nik (Tristan Halilaj) is a typical teenager – chasing girls, and riding around on a friend’s motorcycle. When a longstanding feud with a neighboring family erupts into violence, Nik is forced into house-arrest, according to the laws of the village. His sister Rudina, (Sindi Lacej) the brains of the family, leaves school to take over the daily bread delivery, and their father remains on the lam for a murder he may or may not have directly instigated.
While politically backgrounded, Marston’s films aren’t political, per se. As with 2004’s Maria Full of Grace, that being the better film of the two, The Forgiveness of Blood finds a young protagonist in a dire situation and...
- 11/3/2011
- by Neal Dhand
- SoundOnSight
Telluride 2011, Day 2
The most perilous and difficult aspect of attending Telluride – whether you’re a passholder, a guest, a sponsor, or a ticketholder – is going to the bathroom. Really. Because the great majority of the fest’s venues are assembled specifically for the event, some of its facilities are ill-equipped to deal with hundreds of rabid moviegoers who’ve been specifically instructed to stay hydrated to stave off altitude sickness. As a result, the lines are long – but as the fest’s employees are quick to reiterate, waiting in line is the second-greatest thing to do here. That’s not spin: because there seems to be no such animal as a casual Telluride-goer, nearly every attendee has a story to tell, a great movie to recommend, or a questionable opinion they feel very strongly about.
On the subject of non-casual entites, Today’s Symposium schedule included two potentially incredible speakers: Wim Wenders and Werner Herzog.
The most perilous and difficult aspect of attending Telluride – whether you’re a passholder, a guest, a sponsor, or a ticketholder – is going to the bathroom. Really. Because the great majority of the fest’s venues are assembled specifically for the event, some of its facilities are ill-equipped to deal with hundreds of rabid moviegoers who’ve been specifically instructed to stay hydrated to stave off altitude sickness. As a result, the lines are long – but as the fest’s employees are quick to reiterate, waiting in line is the second-greatest thing to do here. That’s not spin: because there seems to be no such animal as a casual Telluride-goer, nearly every attendee has a story to tell, a great movie to recommend, or a questionable opinion they feel very strongly about.
On the subject of non-casual entites, Today’s Symposium schedule included two potentially incredible speakers: Wim Wenders and Werner Herzog.
- 9/4/2011
- by Simon Howell
- SoundOnSight
"The Forgiveness of Blood," Joshua Marston's follow-up to "Maria Full of Grace," has been acquired by Sundance Selects. It was announced today that the film - which won the Silver Bear for Best Screenplay at the 2011 Berlin International Film Festival - villa be released in the U.S. via Selects, a sister division to IFC Films and IFC Midnight. "Blood" stars Tristan Halilaj, Sindi Lacej and Refet Abazi. It was ...
- 4/6/2011
- Indiewire
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