The Death of the Horse to be shown on Arte

The Albanian iconic movie, "The death of the horse", filmed in 1992, has been selected among 20 European films, which will be shown on arte.tv as part of its ArteKino Classics.

The news was confirmed by the Albanian culture minister, Elva Margariti, who said that the fact that this film will be shown in such a prestigious TV channel, is a remarkable achievement for our cinema and acts as an encouragement to further restore old films and promote Albanian productions.

The plot

In 1975 in Albania a respected general, who had set up an army stud to improve the nation's horses, is sentenced to death for allegedly plotting a coup against the communist dictatorship of Enver Hoxha. To extirpate all traces of his work, the regime decides to destroy the stud by announcing that the horses are sick and must be shot. Agron, a devoted officer at the stud who knows that the horses are not sick, offers to shoot a beautiful Arab stallion he loves. Taking it out into the country, he gives it to some gypsies.

The commissar at the stud suspects what has happened and denounces Agron. After being arrested and beaten, 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 go to, he is walking the street when he 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 walks on alone.