directed by Laurynas Bareiša
If I tell you that I know just a little bit about the Lithuanian cinema, that would already be an exaggeration. Unfortunately, one of the reasons why we don’t get to learn about some films is because they are not that widely available, especially with at least English subtitles. Thanks to my friends from Klassiki, I’m able to explore the world of cinema despite any barriers. This time I had a chance to see a Lithuanian drama, which actually surprised me, but first – a few words about the plot. We get to know Ernesta and Justė (Gelminė Glemžaitė & Agnė Kaktaitė), two sisters, both married and both with children. All together they decide to spend some time at a summer house by a lake. Sounds like a beginning of a lovely story? Oh no… even though the sisters have a strong bond, their husbands, Lukas and Tomas (Paulius Markevičius & Giedrius Kiela) don’t seem to have much in common. One is a snooty professional sportsman, another is a couch potato with a specific sense of humour. As you might be guessing, their salaries also differ from each other, so there’s another topic to have some argument about – money. And for about a half of the film I felt like there’s not much happening on the screen, except quite interesting shots, but those are technicalities. I need some decent story! And luckily, I stayed patient, kept watching and realised – there’s much more hiding behind the boring conversations. I don’t want to spoil it, because discovering the actual idea for the film is the most entertaining part, but I can just tell you that the story is not told in a linear way. In case you don’t know what that means – it’s when during the film you’re not presented the events in the right order, but the filmmaker makes you jump from the present, to the future, to the past etc. This way, they may catch your attention and force you to figure out what happened yourself. Personally, I really like this way of making films, so that a huge plus from me. However, if I may complain a bit – it all seemed a bit too phlegmatic to me. I understand that it could have been done on purpose, to catch us off guard before revealing the actual plot twists, but to me it was a bit too much. If you use such “sleepy” camera work, as I like to call it, meaning the shots are long and the editing quite limited, then you need more emotions coming from the actors. To me, those actors could have played differently, but that was the director’s choice to keep it more realistic, more neutral. I bet some people may appreciate such idea more, but it wasn’t my piece of cake. However, I did like the general story, the non-linear way of telling it, and also I liked the songs the sisters were dancing to. A small plus, but it’s a plus after all. Also, I just want to put a spotlight on the characters of the sisters and how those women are presented here – no matter what happens in their life, what their men are fighting over – the ladies are always there for each other. And I guess that’s a lovely picture of female support. I recommend you to see it and discover some Lithuanian cinema.
My rating: 6/10
S.
I have nothing to watch 