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KRISANA (FALLEN) by Fred Kelemen
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Fascinating but relentlessly arty, this quietly provocative mystery will reward patient viewers with a very cool story plus subtle observations about life in post-Soviet Eastern Europe.
  On a night in Riga, 30-something archivist Matiss (Dombrovskis) is walking across a footbridge when he sees a woman (Dzerve) perched on the railing. They exchange a glance and Matiss walks on, then is startled by the sound of a splash. He notifies the police, but the detective (Roga) seems disinterested, so Matiss starts sleuthing on his own. He discovers that the woman, Alina, has a husband and son (Keiss and Gailiss) and then tracks down her hot-blooded boyfriend (Korobov). But this only increases his sense of guilt.
  Writer-director Kelemen films in grainy black and white with long tracking shots that echo his mentor Béla Tarr. He then adds flashes of invention, both through the photography and sound mix, which give us surprising insights into the story and the characters. The overall effect is like watching a 1950s Soviet-era movie with a distinctly modern sensibility. If you added a Maltese Falcon-style voiceover, you'd have quintessential film noir.
  In his performance, Dombrovskis creates gets the balance just right between Matiss' dull, weary life and his curiosity about this mystery woman. And since the camera literally tracks him right through the film, we get under his skin and experience the story with him. There's a bracing tension between his emotional response and his desire to just escape it all through another bottle of vodka. It's a thoughtful performance that's engaging and cleverly at odds with the more edgy people he meets.
  As it proceeds, Kelemen catches the culture brilliantly on screen, examining the state of life in such a worn-out place. The streets and landscapes look completely thrashed, while the gleaming internal halls of the library where Matiss works have a futuristic sci-fi feel. As he looks through Alina's photos, the film takes on the searching, puzzled mood of Antonioni's Blow-up as we head for the inspired final twist. Kelemen's mannered filmmaking style can feel indulgent, but every shot tells us something important. And if we let him carry us along, we're in for a daringly original and involving cinematic experience.

Rich Cline, Shadows on the Wall, UK – June 2006

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