Compelling drama worth seeking out
Murina (M, 96 mins) Directed by Antoneta Alamat Kusijanovic
Reviewed by James Croot ★★★★1⁄2 In English and Croatian and Spanish with English subtitles
New Zealand’s Cliff Curtis is a surprise star in this Croatian coming-of-age drama. He plays a wealthy businessman whose visit to an old employee and friend causes ructions within the family and has a young woman dreaming of a life beyond her isolated home.
Richly atmospheric and perfectly paced, it features a terrific performance from Gracija Filipovic, who played the same character in film-maker Antoneta Alamat Kusijanovic’s awardwinning 2017 short film Into the Blue.
Fascinated and envious of the freedom those aboard a party boat moored near her home have, Filipovic’s Julija has always felt far more at home in the water than on land. Mainly because that’s the one place she can escape her controlling and abusive father Ante (Leon Lucev).
And although she gets sympathy from her mother Nela (Danica Curcic), it’s usually with the added advice that she should do ‘‘what your dad wants you to do’’.
Never more so than right now. ‘‘There’s a man coming to the house tonight who is ‘God on Earth’, we just need to keep him happy,’’ Julija is advised.
Ante is clearly nervous, berating Nela for not getting the right wine and insisting Julija stop ‘‘parading around like a tease’’ in her swimsuit. Javi (Curtis) used to be his boss, and while their relationship is more than cordial, an incident from the past remains somewhat unresolved. But now Ante needs his support – and deep pockets.
If he can persuade Javi to invest in his land on this barren, imposing, rugged coastline, see its potential as a paradise for holidaying Italians, then Ante will be financially set for life.
Javi though, seems more interested in catching up with Nela and coming to Julija’s aid when Ante’s latest bout of petulance and impatience sees her unceremoniously turfed into the water.
As the hours drag into days without a deal being signed, the more Ante becomes frustrated with Javi giving his daughter ideas of her leaving home and the greater she becomes determined that he might just be her means of escape.
A film that makes terrific use of its idyllic setting as a backdrop to an increasingly torrid domestic drama, Murina is evocatively and beautifully shot by Helene Louvart (My Brilliant Friend, The Lost Daughter).
Director and co-writer Kusijanovic ensures the tension builds nicely to boiling point. Hope and despair are never far away, right up until the final frames. And while young Croatian Filipovic is the undoubted standout, Curtis delivers one of his most nuanced and impressive performances in years as the caring, but ‘‘complicated’’ Javi.
At times harrowing viewing, Murina is also a compelling drama well worth seeking out.
Murina is now screening in select cinemas nationwide.