It all starts with a premonitory dream. A national paper reporter for a southern region of Azerbaijan, Karim finds himself trapped in a corruption and censorship case within the press field. After doing his utmost to dodge the snare and save his career by striking out an arrangement, he is haunted by nightly visions about the consequences of his colleagues’ actions.
Although the ingredients of the psychological thriller are there, the clues to the investigation are for the audience to unearth. No weapon to be found here, for the film rests on a constant tension in the balance of power, on threat and double-dealing when facing the powers that be. Time itself is torn apart, except for the two days that the main character sometimes spends in the capital, Baku, when he has appointments at the newspaper’s headquarters.
The film’s domestic dimension almost precludes any distinction between city and countryside : both are depicted as places where pressure is truly palpable. The apartments’ dilapidated walls actually echo the context within which the narrative unfolds. This is a situation which appears to be inextricable: the only hope seems to lie in a plunge into a dream-like and revelatory chasm in black and white. (JM)
Elvin Adigozel
