The Land Within

2022 [SQ]

Action / Drama / Mystery / Thriller

1
IMDb Rating 5.8/10 10 314 314

Plot summary

After years of exile, Remo, an orphan, returns to his childhood village in the Balkans. He must help his adoptive cousin, Una, with the exhumation of a mass grave that contains most of their family members buried there during the war. But the bodies reveal family secrets that will make Remo and Una question their past and their future. A film about the possibility of truth in a place that only knows survival.

Director

Fisnik Maxville Photo
Fisnik Maxville

Top cast

Çun Lajçi Photo
Çun Lajçi as Sylejman
Luàna Bajrami Photo
Luàna Bajrami as Una
Valmir Krasniqi Photo
Valmir Krasniqi as Skender
Armend Smajli Photo
Armend Smajli as Agim
720p.WEB 1080p.WEB
1.02 GB
1280*536
Sq 2.0
NR
Subtitles bg   cz   us   hr   hu   mk   pl   ro   sl   sr  
25 fps
1 hr 53 min
Seeds 2
2.09 GB
1920*804
Sq 5.1
NR
Subtitles bg   cz   us   hr   hu   mk   pl   ro   sl   sr  
25 fps
1 hr 53 min
Seeds 1

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by SadieSadieSmith

A grippingly beautiful tale of trauma and deceit.

(Watched at the Locarno Film Festival 2023)There's a sense of nostalgia in Maxville's debut film 'The Land Within' ; but not one of a time we regret, but one of a time that feels incomplete. That's where the film starts and it will make you travel in a very powerful cinematic journey.Remo (played by the disturbingly touching Florist Bajgora) goes back to the village where he grew up, a place that's been decimated by a conflict the director doesn't name (very smartly I must admit - giving it a sense of universality). Upon reconnecting with her cousin Una (Luàna Bajrami's first main role, an electrifying performance), their mission is to identify the remains found in a mass grave. What starts as an almost procedural narrative gently gives way to what the film is really about : give those characters the space, the time, the light and the sounds to explore who they are and where they come from. The beautifully crafted magical realism in the film takes the audience on a journey of remembrance to eventually enable the characters to free themselves from their past. I noticed people crying in the audience, but not because it was sad ; because it was beautiful.Having covered the Sarajevo Film Festival for years, I was surprised at how this film brings a new dimension - and a magical twist - to stories coming from Eastern Europe.For a first feature film, despite its flaws (e.g. Too many characters, some of them so strikingly beautiful that one regrets not seeing more of them), it is the promise of a strong cinematic voice in the making.
Reviewed by thinkingaboutshamalaya 10 / 10

Balkanian Cinematographic Masterpiece

Watching this movie has been an extraordinary experience.The capacity of the Director and the Actors to reproduce and involve the spectator in the structure of feelings that characterizes Kosovo in the aftermath of the atrocities of the conflict with Serbia is truly majestic.The raw desolation and pain of the characters is not morbose though: instead they are poetically transfigurated through silences and short, cutting sentences.It's a movie that goes beyond any simplification, beyond nationalistic polarizations.It's Art that celebrates Life, inspiring hope and the potential for rebirth of the Human Spirit.
Reviewed by Pru5514an6lu3 9 / 10

Not only a great "slow-burn", it's emotionally incendiary.

Watched on HBO Max -The incipit is pretty simple : a young man returns to his homeland in Kosovo after years of exile. Once he arrives, he's faced with a place that has changed during his absence. Violence, war and time has sweeped the place, like and invisible broom.That's when Una (played by Luana Bajrami) comes in. Not only she is now the boss of the family, she also radiates the screen with a dazzling performance. Every little gesture, smirk or word carries meaning, carries weight, and above all, emotion. She is a pleasure to watch, and the arc of her character is quite big, yet unexpected.The way it's filmed and staged is a great example of creativity. Many will be rebuffed by the slowness of the film, but it delivers strongly.Some would say it's a "slow burn" ; I found it emotionally incendiary. 8.9/10.
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