Starring: Bruce Ross, Jamie Day
Director: Romas Zabarauskas
Country: USA
UK Release: Dekkoo
Kostas (Ross) is Lithuanian, living in Brooklyn, New York. Many years ago, following the fall of the Eastern Bloc, he moved to the US looking for the freedom that yearned for in his youth, only to be rewarded with a life that he finds dull and monotonous. Writing about his past, he has recently written a book about his greatest love, Dima (Day), a Russian man with whom he served in the Soviet Army and has since moved across the Atlantic too. When the pair reconnect after decades apart, we watch them across the course of a day as they reflect on their shared history and analyse why they spend their lives apart.
This is essentially a ninety minute duologue, feeling more like a play as it mostly occurs within the confines of Kostas’ apartment. Coming from the director of You Can’t Escape Lithuania and The Lawyer, this is a much more sedate and contemplative affair, essentially serving as a visual dissertation on the past and present of living both in the Soviet Union and the West.
Much is discussed across the course of the film, from the Soviet occupation of Vilnius to the current war in Ukraine, the terrors of the communist regime to the historical identity of Lithuanians. But while all of this is interesting – personally, I loved exploring Lithuania a few years ago and learning all about its history – its dramatic form simply isn’t very entertaining.
There’s a connection between the characters for sure, but seeing the tension building between them across an hour and a half doesn’t quite give us much of a plot. And while the dialogue certainly says otherwise, the actors do very little to actually make us believe that they originate from Eastern Europe.
Clearly this is a deeply personal film for its director, but while it may be intellectually stimulating, it doesn’t quite work as entertainment. Its characters and plot are secondary to its philosophical musings, which feel more like the director’s manifesto than a piece of narrative storytelling.
UK Release: 16th January 2025 on VOD on Dekkoo.
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