“Murina”: a review of the film

so impressive rodent When opened, the blue expanse of water fills the frame like a pictorial abstraction. Two divers spring into view, supernatural in their masks and fins, seemingly united on a spearfishing mission. However, after they find themselves in the sunlight and their eel dies in a pot between them on the boat, the man and his 17-year-old daughter don’t get along. They can even be deadly enemies.

With an exceptional quartet of leading actors and a strong immersion in Croatian island scenery – you can practically smell the salty air and the sea – rodent pulling the viewer right into their emotional core. Director Antonetta Alamat Kusijanovic and her co-writer, Frank Graziano, created a tense story of confrontation with shame that touches directly on the conflict. The father-son power struggle between Ante (Leon Luchev) and Julia (Gracia Filipovic) is evident from the start.

That tension mounts as Ante prepares to arrive at “God’s Land,” as he refers to Javier (Cliff Curtis), an old friend and former employer who hopes to buy his land to build a resort. Desperate as she prepares to have the business tycoon over for dinner, Julia ups the ante with each final order. Her mother, once a beauty queen, Nella (Danica Čurčić), who makes the girl shudder with excitement at the upcoming festivities under her calm silver, advises patience. “We can move to Zagreb,” Nella tells her daughter, promising that the big city will escape its isolation. The unexpected outcome of the deal with Javier, he thinks, will settle the bet; Julia sees only the certainty that her monstrosity will grow.

As elegant and understated as Ante is frenetic and grandiose, Javier descends from his oversized yacht with a large entourage. The fearless theme of the magazine covers (“a relentless icon,” says one headline), carries the mundane, subdued confidence of a true alpha, but doesn’t rise above the passive-aggressive trench to up the ante. . The ambivalent nature of the two men’s friendship is complicated by a simultaneous romantic connection between Javier and Nela, a spark Julia nurtures even as she flirts with him.

Javier becomes a potential savior figure for Julia and Ante in different ways. With his pep talk about Harvard and off-island life, he begins to seem like a savior to the inexperienced teenager. A brief scene in which a visiting tycoon and a young woman walk along a rocky stretch of the island recalls Antonioni’s. The adventure. It is a shaky but influential allusion. Kusijanovic made a film of simple poetry based on the physical world rather than a floating mood of existential despair, but the cinematic narrative emphasizes a sense of impending doom. rodentJust as the music of Eugène and Sasha Galperin, wisely used, pulses with apprehension, as well as mystery and wonder in the depths of the water.

The water is the element of Julia, and if menudo moves between the land and the sea, menudo is dressed only in a bathing suit, “naked”, as some teenagers who adhere to the points of view of la old school. Looking at a yacht several years her senior, Julia sees the promise of freedom and sex, prospects that become especially powerful when her story turns into one of the princesses imprisoned in a remote stone house.

Kusijanovic’s lifelong familiarity with the Croatian island setting informs every aspect of the film, as does Filipovic’s proficiency as a professional swimmer, most notably in the film’s gripping climax and scene beyond the end credits. Capturing the sensuality and danger of the sea, the desolation of the land and the intense interactions of the characters, the camera work is insightful. Zoran Mikinčić-Budin takes care of the underwater cinematography, while star Hélène Louvart adds another indelible story of the female experience, following recent gems like lost daughter, never rarely sometimes always s invisible life.

rodent A major debut for the talented director, his profile was boosted by Martin Scorsese’s involvement as executive producer and the Best First Feature Film at Cannes 2021 for Best Picture. Direct dialogue is the main strength of Kusianovic and Frank Graziano. Road map. In this well-told and actionable story, there is tremendous power when people say what they mean.

A minor character’s scathing comment near the beginning of the film may not be: an open statement of theme. But here it is alive with the untold stories of generations of women and the disturbing clues to the struggles that will ensue when Julia meets Ante. As they prepare a big dinner for Javier, the elderly housewife who cleans the spear rodent (The brunette) says, “Look how he bit into his own flesh to get carried away.” Freedom comes at a price in this gripping drama, but as the characters navigate life-changing situations, turbulent waters give way to surprising realities.