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The Great Water Kiril Dzajkovski
AG Records By Nenad Georgievski
www.allaboutjazz.com
Kiril’s music for the film The Great Water reveals the composer’s diverse approach to his craft, which ranges from tribal/ethnic-inspired pieces to more modern classical works. The incredible music experience could fit into many categories, including world music, ambient and classical. An accomplished composer and keyboardist, Kiril earned broad critical acclaim for his eclectic fusion of classicism, electronica and traditional elements on the soundtracks for Dust and Balcancan.
The Great Water is a political drama based on a novel by Macedonian writer Zhivko Chingo, dealing with the situation in post-WWII communist Macedonia, powerfully portrayed through the events occuring at an orphanage whose real purpose was not the care of children, but their political indoctrination.
The music bears all of Kiril’s trademarks but within a different context and relying upon an approach which makes it different from his previous efforts within this genre. There is a variety of mood and texture throughout, but above all there is a unique vision that mixes strings with occasional traditional instruments such as kaval, kanun, drums and zurla. This blend of different styles and instruments is certainly not a haphazard experiment in virtuosity—Kiril integrates these instruments and influences into a unique mix that pushes the music into the land of fantasy and mystery.
The opening tracks (”Chasing Lem,” “Blood Brothers”) are characterised by hypnotic tribal percussion in the forefront with deep melodies as an undercurrent. “The Great Water,” “The Gate” and “Timelapse” feature beautifully scored string sections. As the story unfolds, the music becomes less dominated by percussion and the melodies that were in the background come to the fore.
”First Magic” is a slow track that features an ethnic violin, unfolding elements even more slowly before percussion enters the track about three-quarters of the way through and changes the direction before it again falls away. “Dream Box,” a waltz-like piece with a simple but very effective melody, is one of the standout compositions on this album.
Richly produced, The Great Water marks a further evolution for Kiril’s ever evolving sound worlds. It is an incredible, intense and enchanting musical experience with a huge emotional impact.
The review from the
Variety
after the screening of The Great Water at the
AFI International Film Festival in Los Angeles.
The Great Water
Golemata Voda
(Macedonia - Czech Republic - Slovak Republic)
An Artis 3/the World Circle Foundation/Kaval Film production with the participation of Artreal Ltd. Bratislava. Produced by Mile Arsovski, Ivo Trajkov, Vladimir Chrenovsky, Robert Jazadziski, Suki Medencevic. Directed by Ivo Trajkov. Screenplay, Vladimir Blazevski, Trajkov, based on the novel by Zivko Cingo.
Lem Nikodinoski
(as boy) - Saso Kekenovski
Isak - Maja Stankovska
Ariton - Mitko Apostolovski
Olivera - Verica Nedeska
Bellman - Risto Gogovski
Ariton's Wife - Nikolina Kujaca
Lem (as old man) - Meto Jovanovski
A dying politician's memories of surviving a Stalinist prison camp form the heart of the vivid and visceral "The Great Water," latest in a wave of East European films considering the Communist era. Czech writer-helmer Ivo Trajkov ("The Past") extends his well-developed felicity with sound and image while diving into a specifically Macedonian tale, based on the book of the same title by Zivko Cingo, one of the country's major post-war novelists. Extraordinary perfs by a mostly young cast likely will be cancelled out by the grim subject. Still, fest berths for Macedonia's official Oscar entry will be plentiful.
The image of an eye in ultra close-up is followed by Macedonian pol Lem Nikodinoski (Meto Jovanovski) rushed to the ER with a heart attack. He sees himself going back to a remote, dilapidated prison camp on the marshy coastline of one of Macedonia's large southern lakes, where as a young orphan (Saso Kekenovski, in a stunning debut) after WWII he was dumped along with hundreds of other cast off youths.
"I was a scared little mouse," Lem recalls (in English narration for the international version, spoken gracefully by Rade Serbedzija), and the casual brutalities of the camp create a terrifying milieu steeped in hopelessness.
Camp warden Ariton (Mitko Apostolovski) appears to be the ideal Stalinist strongman, and prefers being called "Daddy." His aide-de-camp Olivera (Verica Nedeska) revels in a culture of punishment and crude political indoctrination when she isn't sculpting a bust of Stalin on her free time.
True to form of political prisonhood tales, a strange outsider eventually turns the camp's steady order upside down. Isak (a boy played by teen girl thesp Maja Stankovska) at first refuses to even acknowledge Lem, but eventually accepts the young boy's interest, making him a blood brother. Isak is perhaps an excessively heavy-handed symbol of the film's themes of spiritual (and Christian) liberation in the midst of oppression, but the boy's actions carry an almost spectral power greatly enhanced by gifted Los Angeles-based d.p. Suki Medencevic, who gives the film a breathtaking beauty and texture that's rare in most recent East Euro cinema.
"The Great Water" may deliver no new insights on the worst aspects of Communist oppression (particularly the long-familiar gap between the rhetoric of freedom and the reality of imprisonment), but pic's balance of emotional truth in the hands of a talented cast and charged by Medencevic's lensing and Kiril Dzajkovski's powerfully moody score, reps a bold step forward for Balkan cinema.
Proving himself a master of widescreen mise en scene, Trajkov seemlessly weaves style and content to create epic moments out of intimate situations.
Narrator: Rade Serbedzija.
Review from Screen International
Set in Yugoslavia during the immediate aftermath of World War II, when Stalin was extending his reach over Eastern Europe, The Great Water concerns an all too real subject: orphans who were rounded up and sent to labour camps to be indoctrinated with Communist ideology.
Containing elements of both drama and surrealism, this beautifully acted, directed and photographed film proves alternately brutal and beautiful, bleak and almost absurdly humorous.
Well-received at the recent AFI Film Festival, where it had its international premiere, Macedonia's entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar, should enjoy a modest art-house success in cities where strong reviews propel attendance.
Based on a 1971 award-winning novel by Macedonian writer Zivko Cingo, The Great Water is a story of emotional dislocation and childhood resilience, of friendship and betrayal, of the state versus the individual. Like many great works, it plays on both a metaphoric and literal level; stunning cinematography and a haunting musical score help interweave the two.
The film is told in flashback. A well-dressed, white-haired man - an important politician, we will later learn - is rushed to the hospital. Hovering near death, he vividly recalls the defining episode of his life: at the age of 12, orphaned by war, he was thrown into a labour camp where children of "the enemies of the Revolution" (political prisoners, the wealthy) were beaten, ridiculed and indoctrinated with Soviet propaganda.
A small, scrawny child, terrified by the brutality around him, Lem Nikodinoski (Kekenovski, in an impressive acting debut) tries to maintain his sense of identity, but in a repressive system that tolerates only political orthodoxy it proves a tall order.
Shortly after his arrival, another young boy is brought to the camp. There is something mysterious, almost beatific, about Isaac (Stankovska) who, the elder Nikodinoski recalls in voice-over, "radiated with some strange light." The young Lem immediately sees Isaac as his own key to survival.
While it's unclear whether Isaac is intended as a Christ figure (certainly the implication is there), there is no question that Cingo and film-maker Trajkov see The Great Water as a condemnation of authoritarianism and Communist ideology. That religion and spirituality are associated with goodness is suggested not just by Isaac but also by an angelic figure who wanders the prison grounds at night.
What the viewer first assumes to be an apparition – an allegorical symbol - turns out to be the flesh and blood wife of Warden Ariton (Mitko Apostolovski), a troubled man who is caught between the system and his own decent instincts.
The Great Water is a film of few words but much feeling. It's there in composer Kiril Dzajkovski's haunting score, which at times suggests the mournful singing of a mermaid, alone and stranded in some vast ocean. It's there in cinematographer Suki Medencevic's stunning use of lighting and silhouettes, his magical shots of the sky, and the monochromatic smokiness that clings to scenes and makes us feel that we are viewing the story through the haze of history.
Nowhere does the feeling come out more forcefully than in the performances of the two young actors who portray Lem and Isaac. With almost no dialogue, they must carry the emotional weight of the story.
With his sad eyes and penetrating expression and his tiny body bent as if constantly anticipating the next blow, Kekenovski offers a eartbreaking portrait of innocence, hope and fear.
For Isaac, a boy whose quiet, even countenance must convey assurance but also mystery, Trajkov ended up casting a girl. Viewers will be none the wiser unless they read about it before seeing the film.
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