Few films are able to convey a sense of place, of culture, of a time before our own.
It's equally hard to tell a story with interweaving plotlines involving complex characters. Simon Magus , a stylishly grim fairy tale of redemption, succeeds at both. A small village in an unnamed 19th-century European country teeters on the edge of extinction after a railroad line on the outskirts of town removes trade opportunities. When the Count decides to consider both propositions, refusing to reveal the name of either bidder, Hase resorts to other measures. The possibly schizophrenic Simon is tolerated by village elders, relegated to doing menial tasks such as running errands and emptying privy pots.