LAURIN
(aka LAURIN: A JOURNEY INTO DEATH)
Dir. Robert Sigl, 1989
83 mins. Germany.
In (dubbed) English.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 13 – 10 PM
SUNDAY, JANUARY 21 – 5 PM
SATURDAY, JANUARY 27 – MIDNIGHT

Robert Sigl’s debut feature LAURIN takes place in a small port town in Germany at the turn of the 20th century, where children have begun to go missing. After her pregnant mother is murdered, nine year old Laurin (Dóra Szinetár) must contend with visions both dreamlike and nightmarish – and laced with possible clues towards the mystery encircling the village.

Made when Sigl was just 25 years old, LAURIN is a gothic fairy tale of ethereal beauty, evenly evoking Fritz Lang’s M., Victor Erice’s SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE and Richard Blackburn’s LEMORA: A CHILD’S TALE OF THE SUPERNATURAL. Shot on location in Hungary and heavy on ambience (abetted greatly by the work of cinematographer Nyika Jancsó, son of Miklos), the film barely qualifies as horror; it’s more of a gothic fairy tale, ruminating on innocence lost, suppression of sexuality and the concentric nature of abuse handed down across generations.