The Forgiveness of Blood

Eight years on from his well-received debut, the Colombian-American drug-smuggling drama ‘Maria Full of Grace’, Californian writer-director Joshua Marston returns with this low-key tale of life in rural Albania. When his father steps over the line in a vendetta with a neighbouring family, teenage Nik (Tristan Halilaj) is forced by ancient rules of conduct to stay indoors until the dispute is settled. While younger sister Rudina (Sindi Lacej) takes over the family’s bread delivery route (and the care of their horse, Klinsmann), Nik is confined indoors, going slowly crazy. There’s much to admire in ‘The Forgiveness of Blood’: the landscapes are beautiful, the performances – particularly the two young leads – are quietly impressive and the sense of a remote, insular community ruled by old ways (despite the arrival of mobiles and Facebook) is powerfully realised. But there’s not nearly enough drama: the plot rambles to an unsurprising end, and the family conflicts are never properly explored.