This Lithuanian-Swedish joint production tells of a blossoming relationship between a man and a woman, who attempt to find a level of acceptable intimacy when the man reveals himself to be asexual - not attracted to anybody/anyone sexually. The film won World Cinema Directing Award at Sundance 2023.
Dovydas (Kestutis Cicenas) is a sign language interpreter - in his world - his language is sacroscant, his interpretation cannot be challenged as that is the universally accepted language for those fluent in it. He is restricted by these dogmatic ways, it is his way and he cannot be swayed by it.
Elena (Greta Grineviciute) is a dancer, a world where everything is open to interpretation and is objective from one person to the next. Dovydas s is a world of subjectivity it is what it is.
A two-hander for the majority of the film, the director has expressed she entrusted the two leads fully to find the truth within the the two protagonists and their stories.
Shot like many a small film, medium close-ups like a Ken Loach film for example, this film is an intimate film - one where the pace is deliberate and rewards the audience to stick with the narrative, and this is helped by the warm lead performances.
There is an intimate intensity to the scenes that is handled delicately and maturely with a subject that is alien to many an audience, yet in this age of people being more pronounced with their sexual behaviour and types of identity, this is a film that asks questions from Elena's position while respecting Dovydas' at the same time.
Film history is littered with famous love stories - Jack and Rose, Rick and Ilsa - yet they all had the clinch at the film's conclusion to state that finality, however, the two partnerships mentioned are apart at the end. Sometimes in film, love means not being with the one you want to be with most and in life, finding that common ground through exploration and togetherness.
The balance between soft and strong coupled with a very good soundtrack by Irya Gmeyer and Martin Hederos give credence to the film's plot and narrative.
Released by Conic Films, who are in a rich vein of form at the moment with their niche independent releases, Slow is another winning film that will garner attention due to the off-beat subject matter but will win acclaim due to its realistic portrayal of such matter. A film that does not have an agenda about identity politics and instead is more about love and how to find it and keep hold of it.
No comments:
Post a Comment