The Man of the Cannon

Following the founding of Albania’s Kinostudio in 1952, the majority of the country’s films dealt with the communist victory over the occupying Germans during the Second World War. Even after Marxist strongman Enver Hoxha died in 1985, Albanian motion pictures continued to recycle this struggle, often going to ridiculous lengths in the process. With a script by Elena Kadare, wife of Albania’s famed novelist Ismail Kadare, Nusja dhe shtetërrethimi forms a striking exception here. After assassinating a fascist official, a young guerrilla fighter tries to flee her besieged fortress town. When the town is surrounded by the Germans who conduct a thorough house-to-house search, the fighter joins a local wedding, disguising herself as a traditional bride. Directors Muçaj and Mitro collaborated on ten features, but this film and another war tale entitled Dimri i fundit (1976) are their best – spare, economic black-and-white images that recall Robert Bresson’s Un condamné à mort s'est échappé at times. After Nusja’s initial release, the Albanian authorities tightened their restrictions, forbidding further films from copying the film’s unique and striking look. (Viennale)