'The Tribe' doesn't attempt to get inside the psychology of its characters
鈥淭he Tribe, directed by the Ukrainian Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy, is set聽in a boarding school consisting solely of deaf students and staff. The film聽is resonant with natural sounds but virtually no words are spoken聽throughout.聽
At first, I found it difficult to get inside this film, which lacks even聽explanatory subtitles for the sign language to carry us along. But the聽silent-treatment conceit did eventually take hold and masks, if not,聽negates, the film鈥檚 many shortcomings. If speaking actors had been聽featured (the entire cast is played by deaf performers) it would have been聽far less interesting.
Sergey (Grygoriy Fesenko), sullen and friendless, is a new student who聽quickly becomes a member of a gang of boys who sneak out at night to聽booze and carouse and pilfer. The staff is ineffectual or in collusion -- two聽of the female students, for example, are being pimped by the shop teacher.聽When Sergey becomes attached to one of the girls, Anya (Yana聽Novikova), the film鈥檚 spiral accelerates ever downward.
Slaboshpytskiy doesn鈥檛 attempt to get inside the psychology of these聽people, or expand the meanings, political or otherwise, of their descent.聽There鈥檚 a stolidity to the filmmaking, with lots of overlong takes, that is聽meant to be ruminative but often just seems negligent. One sequence,聽Anya鈥檚 illegal abortion, hits home. She cries out, and it is the only time we聽hear her voice. Grade:聽C+ (Unrated.)
