Senki (2007)

Director:

Milcho Manchevski

Writer:

Milcho Manchevski (writer)

Release Date:

4 September 2008 (Hungary)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Sometimes the dead speak louder than the living

Plot:

The son of a reputable physician struggles to live up to other people's expectations of him. |

Plot Keywords:

One Word Title | Nail | Money | Surrealism | Sexual Fantasy

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Borce Nacev	...	Dr Lazar Perkov
Vesna Stanojevska	...	Menka
Sabina Ajrula	...	Dr. Vera Perkova (as Sabina Ajrula-Tozija)
Salaetin Bilal	...	Gerasim
Ratka Radmanovic	...	Kalina
Filareta Atanasova	...	Gordana
Dime Ilijev	...	Ignjat Perkov
Petar Mircevski	...	Blagojce
Vladimir Jacev	...	Siskin
Goce Vlahov	...	Professor Kokale
Ana Kostovska	...	Radmila
Zaklina Stefkovska	...	Paca
Izabela Novotni	...	Izabela
Ilko Stefanovski	...	Dr Karpuzovski
Vanja Radmilovic	...	Ivana

Also Known As:

Shadows (International: English title) (USA) (new title)
Bones (Germany) (TV title)

Runtime:

Canada:120 min (Toronto International Film Festival) | USA:130 min

Country:

Republic of Macedonia | Germany | Italy | Bulgaria | Spain

Language:

Macedonian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Canada:14A | Singapore:R21 | Mexico:B15

Filming Locations:

Ohrid, Macedonia

Company:

Blue Eyes Fiction

Trivia:

Macedonia's Official Submission to the Best Foreign Language Film Category of the 80th Annual Academy Awards (2008).

Powerful film...

After the underrated "Dust", Milcho Manchevski impresses with his newest feature "Shadows". Its a movie whose story builds in a linear narration without using "time jumps" like in his two previous movies and that almost became his landmark. But it must be mentioned that there are no compromises made while making this movie to satisfy someone, its pure art filled with emotions. Although it has linear storytelling, the message it sends to its audience is very deep and complex enough. There are a couple of sex scenes in it but nothing too controversial - eminent directors include raw sex scenes in their films and win awards.

Technically there are brilliant solutions made in this horror drama. The editing by David Ray("Scarface") is very modern and the cinematography by Fabio Cianchetti("Dreamers") is beautiful, such a great looking landscapes but also the urban places of Skopje(Macedonian capital city) are beautifully shot. The usage of reflections and mirrors in the movie are great, very old-school looking but authentic.

The music fits together great with the highlight being the usage of the song "Eden Baknez"(in English "One Kiss") which is a Macedonian pop evergreen and honorable mention for the Tom Waits' song "Shiny Things" - fits really good in the scene. The horror is successfully combined with the sound effects, kinda like in the old horror movies. But mind you that it is not a horror movie, it is a thriller-drama with suspenseful scary moments in a Hitchcockian way. The plot outline told in one sentence would be: A story that tells how Lazar(a doctor) will face his fears, responsibilities and his own self after strangely surviving life-threatening car accident.

Now it is up to you to watch the movie, and think about the story once the credits roll down. I truly believe that fans of Hitchcock, Polanski, or even David Lynch will admire this movie.

One more thing: the whole movie is spoken in Macedonian language and the story takes place in Skopje but that is the least important thing in the movie cause the story is universal and it can take place anywhere in the world.