Synopsis
In what we guess is a village court, the “judges”, who seem bored stiff, tell off an alcoholic tractor driver, reminding him that vodka abuse is not compatible with his responsibilities as the head of the family. Elsewhere, the slow ballet of cow milking begins, a wedding is celebrated with great pomp and ceremons (and a little kitsch), and the local firemen test out their ladders and fire hoses, in case something happens, as a firework display is about to begin... Like a Dziga Vertov on Lexomil, Krystsina Savutsina’s camera captures a series of gestures, micro non-events and simultaneous rituals, like so many daily choreographies to which the inhabitants of this Belarusian village, from every generation, devote or submit themselves. By choosing a static shot and associative editing, Khan’s Flesh reveals existences that seem stuck in an unending present and takes a distanced look, tinged with irony, at a society bound by intangible power relations. [Emmanuel Chicon, Visions du Réel]
