Metro Australia — January 2018

http://www.metromagazine.com.au | © ATOM | Metro Magazine 195• 27

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widely recognised customs in order to regulate norms that had
previously resulted in barbarous chaos. In the case of blood
feuds, while not seeking to eradicate the practice altogether, the
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suade future feuds.^7 $FFRUGLQJ WR &ODULVVD GH :DDO WKH .DQXQ
was the dominant legal system in the tribal north of Albania until
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multaneously acting as a symbolic return to an indigenous belief
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grievances and vendettas erupt, the country swept by revenge
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alone. The government’s response was to increase policing
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The history of Albanian blood feuds infuses!KNNCK@MCR’
tale of revenge, murder, honour and gender dynamics, but it
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of a number of cultures across the region, theRGSQHF@is usually
conceived of as an older woman with remarkable supernatural
powers and a penchant for cannibalism.^10 6KH FDQ RIWHQ oSDVVp
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bones.^11 6KH PD\ DOVR YRPLW WKH EORRG RI KHU YLFWLPV^12 a trait
portrayed in!KNNCK@MCRthrough the heavily ritualised ‘blood
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connection between theRGSQHF@, fertility and motherhood. We
learn that theRGSQHF@was herself a victim of a man’s cruelty, and
it was this that sparked her monstrosity – not only towards the
family against whom she seeks vengeance, but also in relation
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WKHRGSQHF@, motherhood becomes a way to gain strength (in her
case, to build an army), rather than being what it had been for
her previously: a cause of sadness and weakness.
Yet, despite!KNNCK@MCR’ arresting depictions of blood feuds
and theRGSQHF@, the theme that prevails overall is that of familial
tensions – something underscored even more solidly by the
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tions of the nation’s youth, represented convincingly by Artan

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but also to the country’s history: their fury and bitterness were

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image of the children ritually burning the bodies of their parents

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away from the archaic, regressive world they represented. If this

theme was not clear earlier, here it is made explicit: Artan and

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of the past while remaining loyal to family. By conquering the

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connection is made with Old Albania as they move into the

future. The cord is cut.

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social world in Australia, has granted him the good fortune of

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and generic boundaries, and shows us a potential future beyond

the archaic, restrictive parameters of ‘national cinema’.

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Alexandra Heller-Nicholas is an Australian Film Critics Association

@V@QCVHMMHMF kKL BQHSHB NM 3QHOKD 1RPlato’s Caveprogram and a

co-editor ofSenses of Cinema. She has written four books on cult,

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Endnotes

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(^3) &DULV %L]]DFD o&RPLQJ 6RRQ%ORRGODQGV’, Screen Australia
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(^4) .DVWULVVLRVTXRWHGLQo$KHDGRIWKH:RUOG3UHPLHUHpRSFLW
 ibid.
(^6) .DVWULVVLRV LQ %L]]DFD RS FLW
 0LUDQGD 9LFNHUV -DPHV 3HWWLIHUAlbania: From Anarchy to a
%DONDQ ,GHQWLW\ +XUVW &RPSDQ\ /RQGRQ  S 
(^8) &ODULVVD GH :DDOAlbania Today: A Portrait of Post-communist
Turbulence ,%7DXULV /RQGRQ 1HZ<RUNSS}t
 9LFNHUV 3HWWLIHU RS FLW S 
(^10) Robert Elsie,A Dictionary of Albanian Religion, Mythology, and Folk
Culture +XUVW &RPSDQ\ /RQGRQ  S 
(^11) Theresa Bane,(QF\FORSHGLD RI LDQWV DQG +XPDQRLGV LQ 0\WK
Legend and Folklore0F)DUODQG &RPSDQ\,QF-HIIHUVRQ1&
 S}
(^12) ibid.