There is nothing forbidden in this village that fears the darkness and severity of the winter. People steal from each other, from their princes German manors, from spirits, Satan, and the task of Christ is to guard their lives that sometimes seem forbidden. That is the only way to survive.
Sarnet's earthbound fairy tale occupies a dreamscape somewhere between the teeming canvases of Brueghel and the existential agonies of Bela Tarr's films. And it's funny, with a sly salaciousness all its own.
November is one of those films you can enjoy staring at from a perspective of visual-arts appreciation, even if the story gets thin (and it definitely does).
November is all-caps CRAZY in the best, funniest, most exhilarating way possible. A mere description cannot, I recognize, do its out-there-ness true justice.
This midnight-movie classic in the making uses ancient Estonian folk tales to create something shockingly unexpected. Both gravely serious and demonically funny, it's meant to knock audiences off balance. Mission accomplished.
If Canada's Guy Maddin collaborated with Czech stop motion animator Jan vankmajer using an abandoned location from a Bela Tarr film, the result might be something like this strange (and often strangely humorous) gothic fairy tale.
