The Tribe is a challenging and perhaps unique film to experience, an unsubtitled Ukranian film played by deaf/mute actors entirely in sign language, with a succession of extra-long shots held on screen for a very long time which forces the viewer to concentrate on the non-verbal cues and language. This is a relentlessly bleak and cold film, set in a brutal boarding school and which traces the experiences of a new student and how he deals with this harsh existence. The inescapable repetitiveness and lack of relief from the dehumanising situation is starkly handled by writer/director Slaboshpitsky, with some harrowingly emotional scenes, ranging from the brutalisation of the new arrival to a grim back-street abortion and the truly distressing final scene. This could never be described as an enjoyable film to watch, but it is a remarkable and very different viewing experience.
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