The Forgiveness of Blood

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Wednesday, June 27th, 2012

The past and the present, ancient laws and modern longings, collide in this satisfying, psychologically complex tale of a teenager caught in a blood feud in the craggy countryside of Albania. Nik (Tristan Halilaj) seems happy enough riding his motor scooter and courting a beautiful classmate. He talks about opening an Internet cafe. He kicks around the rugged landscape of northern Albania, where a 15th-century legal code called the Kanun is still in play. The law allows a family that has lost a member to murder to seek retribution by killing a male from the opposing family. Nik, unfortunately, is that male... Marston has a documentarian's eye, immersing us in the culture of a people still shaking off the yoke of communism. And his empathy for Nik - a kid blindsided by century-old traditions - resonates in powerful ways. �Philadelphia Inquirer