21. January; movie review

 

JANUARY

Cert 12A

111 mins

BBFC advice: Contains moderate supernatural threat, brief hanging scene

Dark movie mysteries are rarely without bloodletting nowadays but, thankfully, the menace of January remains in the mind.

This is a ghost story which is wild and weird and maintained my attention even though I knew it would be doubtful that there would be a clear-cut resolution.

Andrey M. Paounov's picture is set in a shack, deep in the countryside during a snowstorm.

It begins very slowly as one of the occupants (Samuel Finzi) cracks nuts while helping an older man (Iossif Surchadzhiev) to solve crossword clues.

Then, gradually, people begin to appear from the nearby woods, asking for a man called Petar Motorov.

It is claimed that he left in the morning and 'should be back soon' but fears for his life are heightened when his unmanned sleigh turns up with just a frozen wolf on board.

The camera rarely leaves the shack during the film but the tension increases through long poetic tales of foreboding by wizened men.

Meanwhile, the sense of the bitter cold comes from the movie being filmed almost entirely in black and white.

I found January bleak and strange, aided by fine work with shadow and some high-quality acting.

However, I would accept that some would think it was too odd and left too much to the imagination.

Reasons to watch: Dark and mysterious

Reasons to avoid: A bit too weird for some

Laughs: None

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: None 

Overall rating: 6/10

Did you know? Bulgaria has a stable population of 1,000–1,200 wolves, which are granted no legal protection.

The final word. Andrey Paunov:: "January" can be seen as an existential play, it depends on what you want to see in it." Cinefish

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