Hen

A hen escapes from a farm. The place it escapes is not a coop but an industrial facility; there are thousands of animals inside and all share the same fate. The hen makes its way along and reaches the back courtyard of a crumbling restaurant. There are a few people there: someone trying to keep the business standing, someone about to lose their job, and the daily life around them. The hen stays. From then on the narrative runs the people's story and the animal's presence side by side. György Pálfi directs. It was shot in Greece and the cast is made up of Greek actors. Pálfi is a director from Hungary, known in his earlier films for treating the relation between the body, food and nature in an uncomfortable way. The point of view the narrative builds is unusual; the camera often sits at the animal's height and the people stay at the edge of the frame. The film does not criticise industrial farming directly; instead it reverses the scale by following a single animal. The economic condition of Greece stands in the background and the state of the restaurant carries it. Pálfi's known manner is here too: little dialogue, long takes, and the everyday set beside the grotesque. Its limit is accessibility; the narrative explains nothing and asks for patience. Who it is for: viewers who like European art cinema and unusual narrative viewpoints. Who it is not for: almost nothing happens, the pace is very slow, and some scenes are uncomfortable.