Silent Sonata

Janez Burger’s Silent Sonata is an elegantly shot slice of magical realism set during wartime in an unnamed Balkan country, that employs the circus as a metaphor for the human spirit. After a father’s wife is shot and killed, he prepares to defend his two young children against further marauders. But the incoming invaders turn out to be nothing less than the amazing Circus Fantasticus, which sets up camp nearby. A film about courage and compassion in the face of harsh reality, Silent Sonata takes the calculated, but entirely successful risk of telling its story entirely without words, using expressive gestures, glances, and music.