Someone who kills animals is a butcher; someone who kills people is a murderer. Dumitru is both. He’s forty and has just been released from prison. On his way home his life falls back into the same vicious pattern – a game of cards with a group of Romanies gets a bit out of hand and Dumitru kills again. But it seems that this time he’s got away with it. A young wife is waiting for him at home. She’s pregnant. Dumitru is shocked to learn that the father is his own brother – and what’s worse, he raped his wife. In a blind jealous rage for revenge he kills again. . . . One tragedy leads to another. Dumitru becomes a serial killer, and life becomes unbearable. He longs for death but finds that he cannot die. God has sentenced him to live. . . . Shot in earthy sepia tones, this harsh film commands attention for its remarkable camerawork which provides a necessary visual brutality; it also features a remarkable performance by Dan Condurache as Dumitru. The film received the top honour, the prestigious Tiger, at this year’s Rotterdam festival.