Western (2017)

Directed by: Valeska Grisebach | 121 minutes | drama | Actors: Meinhard Neumann, Reinhardt Wetrek, Syuleyman Alilov Letifov, Veneta Fragnova, Viara Borisova, Kevin Bashev, Aliosman Deliev, Momchil Sinanov, Robert Gawellek, Jens Klein, Waldemar Zang, Detlef Schaich, Sascha Diener, Enrico Mantei, Gulzet Zyulfenv, Katerina Dermendzhieva, Maria Prokopova, Ivanka Popova

A group of German workers is going to build a hydroelectric power station in a virtually uninhabited part of Bulgaria. At first glance it seems as if there are few plots where the title ‘western’ is less appropriate. Valeska Grisebach proves with this film, however, that the classic, very slow western can also be set in the eastern bloc of Europe. Cowboys still exist, but today they drive excavators instead of horses.

With a running time of two hours, and a plot centering on the construction of a new hydroelectric power station near a Bulgarian village, this film cannot be expected to be action-packed. This is certainly not the case, but a certain tension remains constantly present. This tension mainly arises from the contacts between the local population and the German visitors.

One of the Germans, main character Meinhard, soon befriends the local population. He goes a long way in communication, causing the Bulgarian villagers to include him in their midst. This leads to a conflict of loyalty that will revolve around the rest of the film; does Meinhard choose his colleagues or the people who make him feel at home?

However, this central conflict is snowed under by constant new impulses to the story. This makes the film appear unstructured at various moments. This makes the story difficult to follow at times.

Not only is the story difficult to follow at times, the characters also regularly leave something to be desired. For example, we only know a little bit of his background about Meinhard, this is almost completely unknown about the other characters, and only a few characters can be recognized who are undergoing some form of development.

However, all this is reasonably forgivable within the genre of a western. The viewer is inundated with beautiful, expansive shots of the fabulous landscapes that Bulgaria has. Within the excruciatingly slow pace of the film, the masculinity and xenophobic tendencies of both parties come to the fore. Scenes in which the umpteenth party is celebrated, each get their own meaning in this way. The tension, already mentioned, between the two parties is built up brilliantly, to a conclusion that is as confusing as it is understandable.

Despite the less elaborated characters and the somewhat confusing storyline, ‘Western’ manages to grab the viewer by the throat and suck it from the comfort of your own armchair to the beautiful Bulgaria. Grisebach delivers a gripping, albeit painfully slow, modern western, proving that this film style has nothing to do with geography. Because the cowboy also roams in the east.