This indie film is a really powerful look at how a community can suffocate you and the hidden corners young people have to find just to be themselves in so many European towns, even with all the progress we've seen lately. The whole story plays out while the town is bracing for a massive, raging flood, and you just can't shake the feeling that some kind of intense reckoning or unavoidable doom is headed their way. To be honest, I didn't go in with super high expectations, but the way it’s put together makes it a seriously compelling watch. Plus, it’s not every day you get to see an LGBT-themed movie coming out of Croatia! The story follows Marko, a popular 18-year-old kid who seems to have it all—he’s got a girlfriend, he’s a competitive arm wrestler, and he’s well-liked at school. When he isn't in class, he’s usually hanging out with his brother, who has a disability, or helping his mom out in her greenhouse. Everything gets flipped upside down when a guy named Slaven ...
One day after school, the serious Ito Akira and the child-like Nishi Yuki meet by chance, as each endeavors to remain walking on the sidewalk`s white line. Soon Ito realizes he is drawn to Nishi in a way that is new to him. Ito decides to act upon his feelings and kisses a surprised Nishi, who agrees they need to walk side by side for a change. The sparks between them are undeniable as their relationship blossoms in high school when they are 17. At 19 they both enter university and are very much in love, although you can see that Nishi Yuki needs sometime for the sexual aspect of the relationship. Time flies and the duo are in mid twenties. Ito is an ambitious man and understands value of work but Yuki still prefers to be a free spirit and enrolls himself in a scripting class. With the realities constantly changing around them, and inability to come out of closet to face his overbearing mother, Ito decides to breakup with Yuki and marries a girl in hope to start a 'normal' family. Heartbroken Yuki doesn't know what hit him and he is quite low. Few years into marriage Ito realizes that this is not what he stands for and however hard he try, he will never be able to forget his first and only true love. He apologizes to Yuki. They are in their early 30s by now, confronts himself, his family in hope to be with his love, this time forever.
This short series bears witness to loving partners, whose unchanging feelings must co-exist within a world of changing realities. The actors very convincingly played 17 year olds and 32 years old with equal ease. They conveyed there emotions very well and there was no awkwardness at all. I could feel their love for one another through the screen. Using age as timeline, sometime you feel that you are losing out on how their relationship is growing and since. A lot was to be shown, I actually didn't mind it. What I did feel bad was about the way Ito breaks up with Yuki. Thats not just done on how you break up with someone. But having said that I can understand things that people are forced to do with societal pressure and family pressure. I have to say that this story is much more Ito focused than Nishi. While Nishi does get the screen time and important moments to demonstrate his character, his conflicts are less concrete.
The one is short and sweet and maybe a little bitter, but I would definitely recommend it. Loving someone is not easy and constant, especially when so much around you is changing. (7/10)
Comments