Compelling, magnetic, poignant. It is almost impossible not to perceive by such terms the short film ‘All Through the Night‘. Condensed in a compact, almost minimalist narrative thread, but dominated by a devastating latent emotional gravity, the project signed by Kiril Todorov seems to reconfigure the structure of a Greek tragedy, while it surprises a shocking existential domino adapted to the demands of a domestic rural realism from the beginning of the 20th century. The epic coordinates are apparently simple, but the high quality of this project doesn’t consist in what the director shows directly through the storyline, but in what lies behind the human relations, as if the silence becomes more relevant than the dialogue itself. Thus, in a manner similar to an ancient theatrical play, the three characters around which the narrative thread coagulates are puppets in the hands of cynical gods, becoming punitive instruments through which fatalism manifests.
The decision to host a stranger overnight awakens painful memories for an elderly couple. Shortly after, paranoia grows so strong that something terrible is about to happen.
The perfect balance between the tormenting atmosphere and the intensity of the acting supports the psychological realist narrative substance as it adapts the strange and magnetic mould of a thriller-like rural Gothic. The result is not far from the effect produced by reading a Dostoevsky prose that excels in its ability to explore the dark depths of the human soul through seemingly simplistic mechanisms. Also, the extraordinary quality of the imposing and contrasting image similar to a baroque painting, combined with the almost claustrophobic “invasive” framing, make the project signed by Kiril Todorov an intense and cathartic cinematic experience. ‘All Through the Night’ is the product of impeccable work orchestrated by a mature directorial vision we are honoured to award in our festival.
For its dark haunting atmosphere, for its extraordinary image quality, for the intensity with which it captures the disastrous formula of a tragedy, ‘All Through the Night’ was awarded with the Film of the Month distinction in the March 2020 edition of TMFF.
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