Sonja

I watched this movie last night and I think it's just wonderful! A very sincerely narrated story about a girl of 15 who is becoming an adult and is beginning to learn herself and her sexuality. The movie is also about Sonja's loneliness, she doesn't seem to understand each other with anyone except for the girl she is in love with. Lots of young people at Sonja's age feel lonely and not understood but it's even worth and so much more difficult if you are gay and you're not sure that the others would be tolerant enough to understand that. The actress played Sonja's character very sincerely although it seems to be her very first movie. The movie is very true to life, many characters can easily be recognized from our own experience as well as the situations they are in, but still the movie is not superficial at all. It addresses very serious topics without being too primitive or too superficial. I would recommend it to everyone who likes thoughtful but not thrilling cinema!

Teenager Sonja (Sabrina Kruschwitz) is struggling with her feelings with her best friend Julia (Julia Kaufmann). She is unsure about her boyfriend and her sexual attraction to men in general. She tries to tell Julia but can't quite say it out loud. Julia vows to stay a virgin until marriage. Her mother confronts her for being a lesbian.

This is a short 72 minutes movie and even then, the movie is pretty thin. It really needs for Sonja to give voice to her sexuality. That's where all the drama resides but the movie insists on hesitating. It's a long tease that loses some of the tension. There are some interesting stuff and it's touching when the girls finally have their moment. Kruschwitz's performance is great but the long tease takes a toll.

Even though this film is lacking something in the end, some additional scene. Maybe with the mom I think, I still love it. After watching this film, go back, watch the beginning and listen to Sonja's poem. The poem is about loneliness, it sets the tone and speaks on the whole movie. While I understand the intent (it's almost a teaser to the peace), I think the poem would have been better at the end while Sonja was walking away as it says what needs to be said about the story as gives it a sort of peace and understanding and even beauty that the existing ending doesn't.

While this movie is about self-discovery, it is also about the loneliness of such a journey. And it is lonely and frustrating to feel a million things that can't be spoken. To have your mother misunderstand you, to not feel the way you're suppose to feel about boys -- the way all the other girls are feeling about boys, and to have this friend... this friend who touches you on so many unique ways down inside your soul, but who doesn't understand the depth of it. And on the one hand you want them to know and understand, but on the other hand you question... if they did, would I still have them? And it can tear you apart to hold this question inside you.

While there are flaws in the piece (the ending, the pacing, disjointed transitions), there's also a lot of heart in it. In the final scene between Sonja and Julia in the film I could feel Sonja's heart falling into her hands as she finally opened up to Julia. In fact, all through the movie I felt Sonja. The actress that played her was incredible and the story's core is beautiful. Like I said, you'll feel cheated by the ending at first. But then go back to the beginning and listen again to Sonja's poem for Julia and you understand the story so much better.