November - 2017 - 8/10
"Kratt" - a magical creature in Estonian mythology.
A creature formed from household implements by its owner, who gave the devil three drops of blood to animate the kratt.
18th century (?) villagers skirt the edges of starvation and utter poverty.
Through religious faith, or witchcraft, they claw an existence.
A few have kratts that steal for them. If not, well, everyone steals.
Relatives from the afterlife visit, as does the Plague (who can be easily fooled), as does the Devil.
Inside this black n white, hallucinatory display, wind several stories of obsession and obsessive love.
Reminiscent of the experimental Book Of Days by Meredith Monk, as well as works by Sergei Parajanov.
For the classically curious, many of these folktales were told earlier in the ballet "Kratt" by Eduard Tubin.
Visionary, despite the slow pace, with jaw-dropping photography. Film borders on the sublime.
