THE TRIBE: ND/NF Capsule Review

Courtesy of Drafthouse Films

THE TRIBE
(PLEMYA)

2015, 132 minutes

Not Rated

Review by Joshua Handler

Note: I will publish a full review of The Tribe in time for its June 17 release. The film is screening at New Directors/New Films, and I have been asked to keep this review down to a capsule review, hence why it's so much shorter and less in-depth than my usual reviews.

Miroslav Slaboshpytskiy's provocative, shocking Cannes award-winner, The Tribe, is an innovative experiment executed with a remarkable mastery of filmmaking. Set within a school for the deaf, we follow the story of Sergey (Grigory Fesenko), a teen who must climb the school's power hierarchy. In terms of plot, that's all you need to know and is frankly all you should know.

The entire film is in Sign Language. There are no subtitles, but because of the expressiveness of the actors and the tight control Slaboshpytskiy has over the film, it is usually easy to understand the events of each scene. Equally impressive is that each scene is a single take, occasionally outdoing the already-impressive Birdman.

The Tribe will be screening March 27 at MoMA's Titus 1 Theater and March 28 at the Walter Reade Theater at the Film Society of Lincoln Center. It's a must-see for any cinephile, as it is a challenging, thought-provoking piece of work with a stunning finale.