Honeyland
Honeyland
Honeyland
Plots(1)
In a deserted Macedonian village, Hatidze, a 50-something woman, trudges up a hillside to check her bee colonies nestled in the rocks. Serenading them with a secret chant, she gently manoeuvres the honeycomb without netting or gloves. Back at her homestead, Hatidze tends to her handmade hives and her bedridden mother, occasionally heading to the capital to market her wares. One day, an itinerant family installs itself next door, and Hatidze's peaceful kingdom gives way to roaring engines, seven shrieking children, and 150 cows. Yet Hatidze welcomes the camaraderie, and she holds nothing back - not her tried-and-true beekeeping advice, not her affection, not her special brandy. But soon Hussein, the itinerant family's patriarch, makes a series of decisions that could destroy Hatidze s way of life forever. (Dogwoof Pictures)
(more)Reviews (2)
Honeyland is an evocatively filmed documentary about very ordinary people, whose extraordinary nature lies in its pure authenticity and straightforward execution, which, despite its modesty, has a high narrative value and offers the viewer many moments to reflect. On one side stands Hatizde, worshipping traditional values and Mother Nature, on the other side is a wild family forming a complete contrast. Despite the serious tone, the film also offers many hilarious yet still grounded moments with Hatizde's mother or the rebellious and clumsy children that elegantly and casually take away from the seriousness of the film. There's beauty in simplicity and honesty, and Honeyland is proof of that.
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Aesthetically innovative, yet carefully observational. One has to admire the filmmakers for how they managed to get so close to the people involved that they cease to perceive the crew even in the most unflattering, exacerbated moments. The Macedonian countryside here has a certain Tarr-esque ethos of timelessness that's easy to slide into, and yet at the end you're quite startled by the fact that this is how people on the same continent as you still live their lives. Anthropological porn I can handle.
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