Delta (2008) Reviews

• jealousy

  oOgiandujaOo_and_Eddy_Merckx2009-06-20

  A young man comes back from wandering to his home town on the Danube (in Romania). We don't know how long he's been gone or much about what he's been doing. When people ask him intrusive questions he just stares at them. He looks very ragged, like he hasn't had a shave or a haircut in three months. He finds out when he briefly visits mum that he's got a half-sister called Fauna. He decides he wants to live out in the marshes of the delta, and Fauna runs off with him, in an incestuous fever. Some of you may have heard of the phenomenon referred to as Genetic Sexual Attraction. This is when siblings live apart until they meet at adulthood, at which point they feel an overwhelming sexual attraction for one another. So just in case anyone would feel the incestuous side of the story is unrealistic, I promise you it isn't. Mihail and Fauna live in a shack in the delta, building a house on stilts in the middle of the lake during the daytime. This is presumably so they can get away from the copious amphibians, and the toad chorus that is their bedtime accompaniment. The toads actually may well represent the townspeople. It's a pretty minimalistic and slow film (the credits include a thanks to Béla Tarr and Ágnes Hranitzky), with marvellous cinematography. Cinematographer Mátyás Erdély is into his abstract patterns and we see some great shots for example of timber stacks and swirling inky black water. There's also a panning shot of the delta that would make a Dutch genre painter salivate, and a funeral scene that would stir the bones of Tarkovsky. There are moments to sigh and gasp at the cinematography. It's obvious all along that things aren't going to end well. Fauna's stepfather is jealous and the local scum have decided that Fauna and Mihail are setting themselves up above everyone else. What is beautiful, tear it down. The film reminds me of an aphorism I heard once heard, there are two peasants, the first of whom has a cow. The second peasant is visited by God who says that he is willing to grant him one wish; the ignorant peasant's wish is that God kills his neighbour's cow. It's not a licentious film; there is no emphasis on the incest and the sex side of things. However there are scenes that are not for the faint of heart. Some reviewers have tried to paint a picture of this film as incomprehensible; don't be misled into believing that. There are even mystical touches to this film, there's something deep and primal and wet about the delta; I felt almost like I was waste deep in water at points. The delta is maybe about a closeness to God, or whatever secular equivalent you feel deep within. The delta is where the land crumbles away, it's fertile and gliding into an ocean. Forget it's the Danube and the Black Sea, and feel the essence, the fertility, the clarity, and the flow. At the end I was left with the raw taste of vodka and watermelon, and an intense feeling of immense communal jealousy.

• Painfully bitter

  LazySod2009-06-22

  The scene consists of the wetlands around a large river. The people are a family and a number of people from the small village they live in. Life is on a pretty much normal path until one of the family members, a man in his thirties, returns after a period of being away. He wants to live in a cabin he wants to build himself, right in the middle of the wetlands. All starts off well. He's getting the materials he needs for the building, the provisions he needs for living. Then he gets company - his sister joins him in the building of the cabin. And as time passes by and the cabin starts to take shape, things start to turn a bit ugly - the two of them cross a border that brother and sister should not cross. And there is the tale of the film. How does one deal with a taboo like this? Brother and sister as a pair. Can one accept it? Or is it something that should not be tolerated, no matter the costs of breaking them up? This film, worked out very soberly (which is an absolute plus), shows how people respond to something like this happening and draws a very fine line between trying to grow sympathy for the brother and sister - and a cooler distance towards the people of the town. The ending is easy to predict - it is inevitable given the situation. It's a bitter pill though. And so we have it: a harsh message packed in the most sober wrapping. 8 out of 10 pained relatives

• Disagreeing with The Guardian: A response to P. Bradshaw and J. Patterson's criticism of the film

  velvethighpeace2009-11-14

  I must admit that I totally disagree with P. Bradshaw and J. Patterson's views on the film. I thought the movie's handling of subjects such as incest and rape is subtle and non-exploitative, leaving them as secondary elements within the structure of the film. None of the scenes involving these seem to be trying to shock the viewer, so I don't understand P. Bradshaw and J. Patterson's points. To me 'Delta' is one of the discoveries of the year. It is beautiful as a sensorial experience and, like a classical piece, outstanding in its economy. Furthermore, and despite its maybe hasty resolution, it is far superior to Bela Tarr's latest effort, Mr Bradshaw. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/may/07/delta-film-review) (http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/may/02/incest-film-taboos-delta)

• unfinished movie but still beautiful

  jimqt2009-04-27

  The main actor died half way through the movie. Thus a film which was supposed to be about revenge must be changed into a film about love. The ending was i felt a little weak maybe because of this. But still despite this the scenery was superb. The sounds and immenseness of the delta. The tough primitive life of the folk. The ignorance the drink. The subject was real. That brothers and sisters who have never met and the meet can form strong sexual bonds is well known. This subject is covered well here. A couple who where hurting no one are destroyed by the dark forces of bigotry and violence.

• Masterpiece!

  konya-s2009-01-11

  Mundruczo Kornél's latest movie is not just one of the best Hungarian movies ever made, but I can tell you honestly that Delta is one of the best movies of all time. Well it's not for everybody, not for the popcorn-audience. If your room is full with HSM posters and pictures, well this film is not for you. But if you like art movies and movies that makes you think you will love every second of it. It's slow but that's not a problem. The two main character is brilliantly played by Tóth Orsi and Lajkó Félix. They're both done a great job. Congratulation! The camera work is amazing, there is some long-long shots I liked them. The scene where Orsi got raped, now that was pretty disturbing but brilliantly filmed I can say that. The ending was sad and haunting, but necessary I think. As I said before it's not a damn popcorn-movie, don't expect happy end, you will not gonna get it! Sad movie. But man...What a masterpiece! Must see!