Shakespeare Sonnets are to bring out love, but Tomas Vengris, Lithuanian/American filmmaker, by hiring five sonnets in his Five and half Love Stories in an Apartment in Vilnius, Lithuania, directs viewers to a requiem for love in a quivering AirBnB. This episodic and anthology-style film takes us on an emotional rollercoaster through the different tales of love, all set within a renting place in the city of Vilnius.
2019 saw the debut of Tomas Vengris, Motherland, at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, where it was awarded the Best Baltic Film Award after its Busan premiere. The story centers on 12-year-old Kovas, who makes his first trip to his mother native country.
And now, Vengris showcases his storytelling skills by seamlessly intertwining the various narratives, creating an engaging and cohesive experience. Each love story presents a unique perspective on relationships, exploring themes of longing, loneliness, and the complexities of modern love. The film effectively captures the passion and negligence of individual connections, leaving the viewers reflecting on their own experiences.
The ensemble cast delivers remarkable performances, portraying characters that are relatable and genuine. Whether it’s the hesitant yet endearing chemistry between two strangers or the heart-wrenching dynamics of a long-term relationship, the actors bring depth and authenticity to their roles. Their performances undoubtedly contribute to the film’s emotional resonance.
A frustrated Irishwoman in a miserable marriage, Meghan (Valene Kane) battles temptation at her younger sister’s (Alison Oliver) bachelorette party. The Israeli couple Issa (Yiftach Klein) and Galia (Hadar Ratzon Rotem) discover that their wish to become pregnant conflicts with family tradition. An elderly Hungarian bachelor named Philip (Géza Röhrig) battles for a second chance with a local girl. Additionally, uninvited guests ruin young dancer Mykolas’s secret rendezvous (Marijus Mažūnas). They are all in an old AirBnB apartment with their stories.
Various visitors from Israel, Hungary, Poland, and Ireland are renting the AirBnB. Between the walls of the historic structure, a fresh tale of love, hate, hope, and remorse is created with each internet reservation. But from the depth of the events, Jolanta (Velta Žygure), a reserved cleaning lady, comes back in to remove any traces of their tragedies and joy while listening to a nostalgic music in which her own love story might be unfold. The simplicity and tranquility staying in Jolanta manner bring relief in the heart of chaos. The film’s ensemble cast delivers compelling performances, capturing the nuances of human relationships with authenticity and sensitivity. The actors charring the connotation hidden inside of the play splendidly.
One of the film’s visual triumphs is its framing and composition and its astonishing cinematography. Each shot is meticulously crafted, with a deep attention to details. The characters are often placed in striking positions within their surroundings, creating visually remarkable tableaus that simultaneously convey the film’s themes. In some scenes actors located half visible in the frame, almost contrasting with the dark, and that represents their personal shadows. Like as Megan comes out of the bedroom after bachelorette party night and faces with her sister and friends in a space half hidden behind the wall or as the man whose loneliness of being broken hearted comes out in a dense dark while he is smoking, dancing, or thinking. The subtlety of the director in visual aesthetic is assimilated with the concept of love with its delicacy and bewilderment – where the form contains the meaning tenderly.
Tomas Vengris employs a symbolic metaphor in Five and half Love Stories in an Apartment in Vilnius, Lithuania. They are confidently evident in indicating the AirBnB and the contemporary story of love in it, or in the light outside coming through the windows or in the mild cracks of the wall worsening during the timeline of the tale. Additionally, the film’s color palette evokes a sense of nostalgia and romance. The warm golden hues on one episode and soft pastels in another one enhances the ambiance, evoking various moods and emotions throughout the different love stories. The color schemes are carefully chosen to further immerse audiences in the characters’ emotions and the overall atmosphere of the film.
Five and half Love Stories in an Apartment in Vilnius, Lithuania is a delightful and heartwarming film that captures the complexities of love in a unique and charming way.
If the story of love, hate, loneliness, and many existential senses cannot enrich the audience in the form and meaning competently, the film would be trapped in a stereotypical plot. But Tomas Vengris is to bring the common narration of humanness, their passion and sorrow on the screen of cinema.
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