The Death of the Horse

The Death of the Horse
The Death of the Horse
Directed by	Saimir Kumbaro
Written by	Nexhati Tafa
Starring	Timo Flloko; Niko Kanxheri
Cinematography	Bardhyl Martiniani
Edited by	Nerman Furxhi
Music by	René Aubry
Distributed by	Albafilm
Release date	April 28, 1992;
Running time	80 minutes
Country	Albania
Language	Albanian

The Death of the Horse (Albanian: Vdekja e kalit) is a 1992 Albanian film directed by Saimir Kumbaro, written by Nexhati Tafa, and starring Timo Flloko, Rajmonda Bulku, and Niko Kanxheri.

Plot

The film takes place in 1974 and follows a respected military horse trainer, Argon, whose regimen is suspected of being involved in a coup against the communist dictatorship of Enver Hoxha. In retaliation, the regime decides to destroy the army's horses by announcing that the horses are sick and must be shot. Agron, a devoted officer who knows that the horses are not sick, offers to shoot a beautiful Arab stallion he loves. However, instead of killing the horse, he takes it into the country and he gives it to some gypsies.

The commissar at the stud suspects what has happened and denounces (spies) Agron. After being arrested and tortured, he is put on trial where, despite testimony from the commandant of the stud who knows the commissar's malice, he is sentenced to fifteen years. His parents are evicted from their flat and sent into exile. Under pressure from her family, his pregnant wife files for divorce and then dies after a backstreet abortion.

Agron is released while the streets are full of jubilant citizens celebrating the overthrow of the dictatorship. With no family to return to, he wanders the streets when he suddenly bumps into the ex-commissar, newly elected to Parliament. The man promises that he did everything he could to save Agron and will now do anything he can to help. Agron stares at him coldly, and the ex-commisar leaves. Agron walks away, alone, in unknown direction.

Cast

Timo Flloko as Agron
Niko Kanxheri as Commisar Estref
Rajmonda Bulku as Meri Agron's wife

Production

The International Federation of Film Archives stated that The Death of the Horse was the "first dramatic ficiton film" made after the fall of communism in Albania. It was one of the first Albanian films that critically explored the harsh realities of Enver Hoxha's dictatorship. The plot of the film is fictitious, but Agron is a parallel of Petrit Dume, who was executed in 1975.^[1]

Produced by Albafilm, the film was directed by Saimir Kumbaro and written by Nexhati Tafa. Nerman Furxhi edited the film and René Aubry composed the music.^[1] Filming was done in Tirana.^[2] Rajmonda Bulku said that they were unable to do multiple takes due to a lack of film.^[3]

Release

A restoration of the film was done with the scanning being supervised by Shai Drori and the digital restoration being supervised by Steven Kastrissios. Financial support for the restoration was provided by Creative Europe and the Association of European Cinematheques.^[1] It was one of 20 films shown by Arte as part of the ArteKino Classics.^[4] From 19 to 26 May 2021, the film was shown on the Central State Film Archive's YouTube channel.^[5]