Beast

'Beast' follows a community of traditional gray cattle herders in the Hungarian steppe. Through the changing seasons, the film wordlessly explores the rhythms of life and death—both of man and animal—thriving in a harsh and unforgiving environment. The pulsating movement of the herd against the beautiful bleak landscape, observed by the ever present human gaze shows how survival in severe conditions decenter anthropocentric values. Here, both the gray cattle and the dwindling population of traditional herders share the same fate of decline against the passage of time. “Beast” reveals a human’s self-image not unlike the beasts that they try to contain.