One of the most talked about movies of the festival circuit last year, The Tribe is primarily known for its experimental conceit. Set at a boarding school for the deaf, almost all of the characters are hearing impaired and communicate only through sign language (and sex), and there are no subtitles. The point is that they’re not necessary. Because film is a visual medium and also, as this trailer points out, “love and hate need no translation.” Of course, those are the basest of emotional expressions, so if that’s all there is then The Tribe sounds a bit one-note. All the review blurbs should have me thinking otherwise, but on the other hand there’s our own review from last year’s Fantastic Fest by Rob Hunter.
“There’s no getting around the fact that The Tribe is not a very good film,” he wrote. “It drags relentlessly, it’s devoid of engaging characters and the story is a flimsy narrative built on the most basic of plot turns, but it remains a commendable and at times fascinating experience making it a must-see for cinephiles. So proceed accordingly, I guess?”
At least he urges you to see it, just keeping in mind that “this isn’t exactly a revolutionary feat.” Maybe not revolutionary, but it’s definitely unusual and surely unlike anything you’ve seen before. A lot of fresh ideas in cinema are based on experimental conceits and we often watch them with that in mind and can appreciate that the filmmakers are doing something different even if not groundbreaking. But I almost wish the film’s characters communicated with a nonsensical gestural language to further focus on what seems to be writer/director Miroslav Slaboshpitsky‘s point. As it stands, I figure deaf viewers are both going to understand more of what’s being said by the characters and appreciate less of the film’s intentions.
The Tribe opens in New York City on June 17th.
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