Lasting, 2013.
Written and Directed by Jacek Borcuch.
Starring Jakub Gierszal, Magdalena Berus, Angela Molina, Juan Jose Ballesta, Joanna Kulig and Andrzej Chyra.
SYNOPSIS:
Polish students Michal and Karina are falling in love and enjoying a carefree summer in idyllic rural Spain until an unexpected nightmare throws their lives into chaos.
In a roundabout sense, Jacek Borcuch’s Polish romance Lasting does what Gus van Sant’s Paranoid Park did back in 2007: take an adolescent lead wracked with guilt over his involvement in a tragic incident and interwine the character’s story with a look at – nay, an immersion in – the young adult experience. That’s ‘young adult’, not ‘Young Adult’, the movie phenomenon currently presenting a corporate dream of youth to audiences, a fantasy safe in the glow of lowbrow escapism. Lasting, despite its lead’s unusual dilemma, is the reality.
Beginning in rural Spain, the romance between students Michal and Karina is initially filmed in warm, sunny tones. These scenes are like some heavenly summary of adolescent freedom; working on a farm by day and drinking with a cheery Spanish family by night, we don’t even know how Michal and Karina came to be here, adding to the ethereal feel. He speaks Spanish and sits right at home in the landscape, whereas Karina, it seems, is new to the place, happy to only speak to and spend her time with the carefree Michal.
It’s only after Michal makes a snap decision to preserve his honour does he – and the film – return to Poland, a grey, concrete vision far from the daydream of Spain. Michal’s moment of violent error suggests a much deeper reason for his loner persona; where at first his aloofness towards Karina could be read as coldness, it later becomes clear that his confidence hides a loneliness brought on by an isolated life.
Lasting may seem inconsequential to some. It favours mood over plot, and relies on your sympathy for self-involved, reckless individuals. The movie hangs on the will they/won’t they of Michal and Karina’s relationship (after his confession to her, she delivers shock news of her own). But isn’t that just adolescence? Courtesy of Borcuch’s directorial choices and Michal Englert’s wondrous cinematography, Lasting becomes indelible.
Expressionistic use of light and colour, mixed with Borcuch’s naturalistic approach to acting performance comes together beautifully in a harshly-lit party sequence where Karina, having broken things off with Michal, drunkenly wanders through a crowd of revellers, the camera capturing the sense of exhilaration as the red lighting implies some hellish other realm. The style means it’s a film that reverberates. And for all the screenplay’s slightness, all actors are solid.
Leads Jakub Gierszal and Magdalena Berus are especially superb as Michal and Karina, respectively. Their romance is absolutely convincing, somehow remaining sweet and potent despite Michal’s potentially alienating first act error. Less visceral than the aforementioned Paranoid Park, Lasting still has that same pull. Fans of van Sant’s experimental masterpiece would do well to seek Lasting out.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Brogan Morris – Lover of film, writer of words, pretentious beyond belief. Thinks Scorsese and Kubrick are the kings of cinema, but PT Anderson and David Fincher are the young princes. Follow Brogan on Twitter if you can take shameless self-promotion.
Originally published November 17, 2013. Updated April 11, 2018.
