Ples v dezju

A story about ugly love with a surrealist and at times playful treatment. Miha Baloh faithfully portrays an aging actress tragically dependent on a brooding man while also being the subject of a young prompter's obsession.

The mess that is this triangle is intriguingly contrasted with a young couple clearly in the throes of an idealized love. The screen time afforded this ideal love may be minimal but the fantastical scene where Marusa (Baloh) undergoes a makeover and emerges beautified, her moment of acclaim is offset by the kissing young couple. All that is false about her and her relationships is exposed by contrast with this glimpse of 'true' romance. And yet. the 'true' romance is hardly as compelling as the main characters. A poignant comment on art, perhaps.

Incessant rain forms the backdrop of this dark study of soured relationships.

There is a really interesting scene about theatre/film where Marusa decries the trifling role of directors on being fired and bemoans her condition, as the camera draws up to reveal her a tiny speck in a composition dominated by hanging lights and strewn ladders. Hladnik uses sound in surfeit and designs the narrative so that surreal elements are not clearly demarcated from the designated reality. A clear influence of Godard and Bunuel on a film that deserves closer analysis than I've done here.

I was attracted by the DVD in the shop because the label said "acclaimed by critics as the best Slovenian film". My knowledge of Slovenian films was zero, so I decided to give it a chance. I am Italian, but the DVD edition offers subtitles in many languages, among which mine. Anyway, I wasn't disappointed. On the contrary, I very much liked this unknown (to non-Slovenian audiences) movie. It's the story of two people who meet and fall in love. He is one who likes to shift from one woman to another, and maybe he has never known love, like many others. She is a good woman, unlike many others. She's in her late thirties, and older than he. She falls in love with him and has the most serious intentions. They go on meeting for some time. Love is on both sides, but he lingers in front of the final decision. She waits for him to make up his mind, but he remains trapped in many thoughts, above all considerations on her age (he lays much importance on sex for itself, which is a deceit), and maybe that she is very different to what he had always expected and waited for. Though, she is the one for him. Will he grasp this truth, will he see clear in his heart? Time goes by quickly and this brief occasion can be lost forever. It is a melodrama, and a very intense one. Moving and well-depicted is the figure of her: the director describes finely her feelings, her fears, her sorrow for a man who can't understand his own heart and is bound to too many common places about how a love relationship should be like. The actress is perfect. We suffer with her, when he, who won't accept his feelings towards her, offends her in the most brutal way by mentioning her age (though not beyond 38, I guess). The movie also shows in a very effective way dreams and some pieces of imagination of the characters. It's a striking movie, which touches one's heart and remains in it. It is a pity that it is known by not many people in Slovenia, and almost nobody elsewhere (among which me). Though belonging to the former communist Europe, it does not even mention politics or have any kind of political propaganda. It is a very good melodrama, with surrealistic elements. That's all what it is. Now let's wait for the first Slovene to post a comment about this Slovenian movie.

One of the most achingly beautiful films I've seen in a long time, there are many layers to this seemingly simple tale. We see how two people in the same relationship can be living two completely different experiences and how most of it happens in their heads. The surrealistic elements added so much to the poignancy of the film and were not overdone. We also see a love chain, as it were, with a woman so in love with a man who is utterly contemptuous of her that she is unable to respond at all to someone who loves her in spite of her flaws. How many of us have been there? And then there is the sinister presence of the neighbor/landlord who may have more to do with the outcome than either of the two lovers, and last, the two young lovers who seem to follow Marusa and Peter everywhere they go seem, to me, to represent the ideal relationship that they both seek so fervently but can't seem to find in each other. Tragic and hauntingly beautiful... this is a film that is a pure pleasure to watch, through every minute. If you can find a copy of this rare film, you will be glad you saw it.