“A LOVING STORY”
Starring: David Thornton, Mirjana Karanovic, Cyndi Lauper, Branislav Trifunovic, Antone Pagan
Directed by: Darko Lungulov
MPAA Rating: Unrated
Genre: Art/Foreign and Drama in English with some Serbo-Croatian
Run Time: 1 hr. 25 min.
Release Date: Listed below
By John Delia
Making a good romantic film is pretty hard these days, especially since most of what I have seen lately just rehashes movies with a similar theme. But, now comes along a very unique film that possesses a strong bond between actors, smart scripting and keen direction providing a wonderful screen experience. If you are a true romantic at heart, don’t miss Here and There starring David Thornton and Mirjana Karanovic.
The movie centers on Robert (Thornton) a New Yorker who in his late 40’s finds himself without a job and nearly homeless. Bunking at his sister’s (Lauper) apartment and taking odd jobs to keep afloat, Robert is depressed. On one occasion he takes a job moving furniture with Branko (Branislav Trifunovic) a Serbian immigrant who has been saving money to bring his fiancée Maria to America. After finding out that Robert is single and destitute, he makes him a proposition. He offers to pay him a large amount of money to go to Belgrade and take up temporary residence with his mother Olga (Karanovic) so he can marry Branko’s fiancée allowing him to bring her to New York. When things start to get complicated however, Robert finds himself in a strange country having to make interesting decisions.
The romance in the film between Barko’s mother played by Karanovic and Robert (Thornton) is amazing. The chemistry between the two actors made me a believer that a definite connection was made between the two characters. Direction by Lungulov is smart, keeping his film moving and adding just enough side stories to make the movie work. I enjoyed the way he develops Robert’s character so you can see the desperation and reasons why he takes on the challenge.
Scenes of New York and Belgrade are sometimes dank and other times stunning. Cinematographer Mathias Schoeningh holds his camera steady so you can drink in the surroundings of the two interesting cities.
The film is unrated but does contain some language and adult content.
Scheduled openings are as follows:
Cinema Paradiso (Ft. Lauderdale, Florida) June 9-20
Jarvis Conservatory (Napa, California) June 12
Desert Film Society (Palm Springs, California) June 19
Bill Cosford Cinema (University of Miami, Miami, Florida) June 25-27
Santikos Cinemas (San Antonio, Texas) June 25-July 1
The Orpheum (Madison, Wisconsin) July 16-29
State Theatre (State College, Pennsylvania) August 6-13
Honolulu Academy of Arts (Honolulu, Hawaii) August 24-31
FINAL ANALYSIS: An emotional film for lovers and dreamers. (4 of 5)