Sundance Review: ‘Hive’
Blerta Basholli’s Hive, which had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 31st 2021, is a thoughtful and elegantly made drama that showcases the struggles being faced by independent women in patriarchal communities. In general, films that are focused on such people, not in a Hollywood-like fictional presentation, have always been a bit on the back burner of cinema. The film portrays the indigenous culture of the people of Kosovo after its big war in a realistic, informative light and is a moving portrayal of a woman who tried her best to work hard to earn a living for her family.
The story follows Fahrije (Yllka Gashi) who is a native woman living in Kosovo. Ever since the war occurred, her husband has been missing and every day she prays for his safety. With no other male figure in the family, she sets up her own small honey business to provide for her kids. This takes her on a tough journey of hard work where she has to fight against a patriarchal society that does not support her.
Lead actress Yllka Gashi delivers an utterly masterful performance, which is quiet and thoughtful at first but majestic near the end. Her immobile facial expressions perfectly portray her as an anguished parent and wife in the first half. But as the film progresses, audiences learn more about her motherly side as she allows rare moments of emotion to shine through. However, considering the hardships her character has to face, she appears unfeasibly energetic in most scenes, as she hurries along in a manner suggesting she was just nipping down to the shop for some goods rather than walking several miles over potholed pavements and rocky fields to visit the post-war area in case someone has any news about her husband.
Director Blerta Basholli employs a number of artsy flourishes which audiences may find interesting: the multiple shots of clouds, blades of grass, piles of goods, which add a sense of mood and pacing; the shots of people doing nothing of any consequence (staring into space) for minutes at a time; conversations in which only one participant was visible to the viewer; and a pivotal scene delivered in which most of the production is shot, but in a regional language featured in all its untranslated glory. The film can also seem quite slow, at times, as if nothing is happening but it does lead up to an emotionally jarring conclusion.
All in all, Hive is a very reflective and profound movie about the hardships being faced by a woman in difficult times. It never really goes beyond that theme but is still guaranteed to give audiences a great time watching. – Nabeel Zaman
Hive premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival on January 31, 2021.