LENA

Profoundly visceral sense of a young girl trapped in a morally complex world. (Review by John Harley)

“The gun has to go off; and it does!”

Forming part of the Durban International Film Festival, Lena is directed by Christophe Van Rompaey with screenplay by Mieke de Jong and cinematography by Menno Westendorp. The cast features Emma Levie, Jeroen Willems, Niels Gomperts, Agata Buzek, Lisa Smit and Rifka Lodeizen.

Lena is a chubby but attractive school leaver who grants favours to boys, but receives no emotional returns whatsoever.

She then meets Daan (Niels Gomperts) who is instantly struck by her. The highly sensitive Lena (Emma Levie) soon moves in with Daan and Daan’s father – and from here on things become rather complicated. This film features one of the most complex and endearing protagonists in years – as Lena, Emma Levie gives an astoundingly measured performance, taking her audience through a wide range of emotions in a most delicate and contained manner.

The movie begins rather simply and moves along with a steady pace that gives no indication of the complications and conflicts that lie in waiting. From the moment the gun is revealed, early on in the movie, one has the immediate sense that this gun WILL go off...and it does!

There is a great sense of sadness in this film, too; here we have a young girl who just cannot put her life together no matter how hard she tries. Happiness eludes her. Things change dramatically when Daan comes into the picture followed by the dad. Relationships between these three characters become increasingly complex and introduce layers of emotion that keep the audience captivated.

The film is very carefully constructed, with a minimalistic approach to lighting, camera shots and location ... yet extremely intricate in terms of complexities of the characters and the range of emotional layers that come into play. I must admit, at times I felt the storyline was a little forced in order to enhance the tension and drama in the movie – the motivations behind the actions of some of the characters, not always being that clear, which in turn, impacted on the overall intent of the director.

In the end, it was a movie about survival; of a young (slightly plumpish) girl, thrust into a very stark, brutal, uncompromising environment and the ends she will go to in order to survive. She even attempts to manipulate her environment and the people in it, to suit her purposes – yet, it is clear that she has not really come to terms with loving herself and will therefore always be searching, beyond herself, to attain happiness.

Lena exudes sadness at a most profound level and even her small moments of happiness (dancing) are never really convincing, and just lead the audience further onto her path of self-destruction.

The movie provides a profoundly visceral sense of a young girl trapped in a morally complex world. I highly recommend it – but it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. – John Harley