'Salvation' and 'Nightborn', nightmarish family breakdowns
In competition at the Berlinale are two feature films that, in different ways, deal with horror within domestic contexts
Disturbing presences at the Berlin Film Festival: 'Salvation' and 'Nightborn', both presented in competition, deal with themes bordering on the paranormal, albeit with very different logics.
The first is the new feature by Emin Alper, a Turkish director who returned to the main Berlin competition seven years after 'A Tale of Three Sisters', but his first feature 'Beyond the Hill' had already been presented at the Berlinale in the Forum section.
Set in a remote village, 'Salvation' is about the return of an exiled clan, whose return to the territories threatens to reignite a decades-long feud over land. Struck by divine visions that he believes are genuine warnings, Mesut begins to challenge his brother - the community leader - to try to protect his people.
Will the tensions between the two lead to tragedy or salvation? This is the starting point for this feature film, which focuses on a possible family break-up as the only way to escape the inevitable.
There are several references, even too explicit, to Cain and Abel and to a cultural tradition that sees in the birth of twins the presence of something diabolical.
