I saw Rengeteg/Forest five years ago at the Toronto International Film Festival and I still clearly recall the mounting anxiety that each segment provoked and the intense feeling of disquiet I felt at its chilling conclusion. The gritty grainy quality of the image, the seemingly raw sound, provide an almost documentary feel--but the conversations among the characters are stylized and enigmatic, and grow dark, unsettling and surreal. The film seems defiantly uncinematic until you observe how what you're being shown contributes to the viewer's increasing disorientation and discomfort. I hope director Bendek Fliegauf has met with the success in his film-making career, as he is certainly a talent to be reckoned with.
Review of Forest
