PopHorror Let's Get Scared
I’m a sucker for a love story, being a hopeless romantic at heart. I’m also a huge fan of the films that aren’t afraid to fully embrace weirdness to tell its tale. November is one such film.
November is the latest film from writer/director Rainer Sarnet based on the novel, Rehepapp, by Andrus Kivirahk. The film stars Rea Lest, Jorgen Liik, Arvo Kukumagi, Katariina Unt and Taavi Eelmaa. The film recently was nominated for a 2018 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.
Official Synopsis/Plotline for November:
In this tale of love and survival in 19th century Estonia, peasant girl Liina longs for village boy Hans, but Hans is inexplicably infatuated by the visiting German baroness that possesses all that he longs for. For Liina, winning Hans’ requited love proves incredibly complicated in this dark, harsh landscape where spirits, werewolves, plagues, and the devil himself converge, where thievery is rampant, and where souls are highly
regarded, but come quite cheap. With alluring black and white cinematography, Rainer Sarnet vividly captures these motley lives as they toil to exist, but must ask if existence is worth anything if it lacks a soul?
November is truly a weird film, combining witches, werewolves, and more to tell a unique tale of unrequited love. The film follows two young people, Liina (who is hopelessly in love with Hans) and Hans (who is hopelessly in love with the Baroness, who pines for her own lost love). The world they live in is harsh, with people surviving by eating tree bark, selling their souls to animate tool creatures who do their bidding, and the plague and thievery both running rampant. In this world, it seems like most of the people are pining for things that can’t have, whether those being love or something more superficial, like trinkets of wealth.
A closer look at the film reveals that most, if not all, of the principal cast of characters are suffering from a lost or unrequited love, which they have let utterly destroy their lives, or turn them into monsters for the sake of their own happiness. Hans and Liina in this world are unique characters in this world, rising above their harsh conditions and refusing to lead themselves be twisted by the world around them. Rea Lest and Jorgen Liik are wonderful in the roles of Liina and Hans, providing rays of hope in an uncompromising world. While I loved the weirdness of the film, it was their story that kept me invested, wanting to know will they wind up together or are they doomed? I’m not telling, you will have to watch the film.
Final Thoughts
November is a unique tale of love in a harsh and uncompromising world. The features a wonderful cast and a great story which kept me invested from start to finish. If you like love stories, WTF cinema or films about people fighting for their happiness in a brutal and uncaring world, then you can’t go wrong with November.
