German director Valeska Grisebach has travelled abroad for her new film. To Swilenberg, in the border region between Bulgaria and Turkey. She had previously shot her film “Western” (2017) in Bulgaria – a story about East German workers on a Bulgarian building site – and was featured in the Un Certain Regard section. Now she has made it into the main competition with “The Dreamed Adventure”.
Once again, she works with non-professional actors, one of whom is Süleyman Letifow, who plays Said, a Muslim Bulgarian. He turns up out of the blue; we see him on the phone in his car, discussing a deal involving smuggled petrol. The next morning his car has vanished; on the street he meets the archaeologist Veska (Jana Radewa), an old acquaintance, whom he accompanies to her excavation at a medieval tower. In the border region there is much talk of smuggling and the mafia; eventually the local mafia boss Iliya (Stoicho Kostadinov) turns up on the scene.
Grisebach follows the principle of ‘tell, don’t show’. There is constant talk of illegal dealings in cigarettes and refugees, but we see none of it. At most, there is the occasional minor brawl, instigated by the mafia boss’s bodyguards. Otherwise, men sit at tables, smoking, drinking and laughing at bad jokes. The whole thing is of epic length, as the film runs for almost three hours and, given its aimlessness, could easily go on for a few more. Even the sympathetic critic Lee Marshall writes in ‘Screen International’: ““The Dreamed Adventure” captivates us despite its long running time, mainly because we are constantly trying to keep up and piece together the fragments of a story that feels lawless, provocative and danger.
Eventually, things do take a dramatic turn when Veska takes hold of a pistol hidden beneath a roof beam. We never find out how she knows this. But as we know from Chekhov, the pistol is bound to be used at some point – in this case, to save a young girl from a potential rape. So far, so appropriately feminist. Eventually, things do take a dramatic turn when Veska takes hold of a pistol hidden beneath a roof beam. We never find out how she knows this. But as we know from Chekhov, the pistol is bound to be used at some point – in this case, to save a young girl from a potential rape. So far, so appropriately feminist.
Valeska Grisebach is a faithful graduate of the so-called ‘Berlin School’, so every emotion and every hint of drama must be avoided. The characters’ motives remain obscure; the dialogue is banal and offers little insight. Why Veska goes to bed with a shaven-headed guy with an earring, of all people, we shall never know. In the end, Grisebach treats herself to an emotional finale when Said tells Veska that he isn’t interested in money and laconically remarks: ‘I’ve missed you.’ Black screen, credits.
Nineteen years ago, Romanian director Cristian Mungiu emerged virtually out of nowhere and immediately won the Palme d’Or with his abortion drama ‘Four Months, Three Weeks and Two Days’ (2007). Since then, Mungiu has made a series of films that have regularly featured at Cannes. In his new film “Fjord”, which he shot in Ålesund, in northern Norway, Mungiu once again proves himself a master of psychological drama.
Like a wedge, a fjord divides two mountain ranges; a wedge also runs through the local community and the fundamentalist religious family who have moved here from Romania. Mihai Gheorghiu (Sebastian Stan), the Romanian father, has found a job as an IT specialist with the local council, while his Norwegian wife Lisbet (Renate Reinsve) works in a hospital. The children are brought up with strict discipline; mobile phones, modern music and dancing are considered the work of the devil. Nevertheless, their daughter Elia (Vanessa Ceban) befriends Noora, the school headmaster’s daughter.
At first, everything seems to be going smoothly with the new neighbours integrating into the community, until the PE teacher notices marks on Elia that suggest he has been subjected to physical abuse. The school contacts the state agency Child Protection, which is similar to the Youth Welfare Office in Germany. Until the case is resolved, the children, including the infant, are placed with foster families. At the hearing before the civil court, a dramatic confrontation ensues between representatives of the child protection agency and the evangelical family, for whom ‘punishment comes from heaven’, and who insist that they only discipline the children with a ‘slap’.
Cristian Mungiu had depicted a similar confrontation between different ethnic groups – between Romanians and Hungarians in Transylvania – in his last film, “R.M.N.”. One shouldn’t expect happy endings from him. Sebastian Stan, star of numerous Marvel films and himself a native of Romania, impresses as a friendly yet authoritarian advocate of “traditional” parenting methods. He was last seen in Cannes two years ago as a young Donald Trump in “The Apprentice”. Renate Reinsve, who won the Best Actress award at the festival in 2021, most recently played Stellan Skarsgård’s daughter in “Sentimental Value”. A role that earned her an Oscar nomination. In “Fjord”, she remains somewhat overshadowed by Sebastian Stan, though the script offers her little scope to shine. Overall, despite its clever build-up of tension, Mungiu’s film ultimately feels somewhat hesitant.