Murina

Gracija Filipovic in Marina

Antoneta Alamat Kusijanovic's Murina, the winner of the Camera d'Or at Cannes in 2021, seems to me the most assured cinematic debut since Panah Panahi's Hit the Road. Gracija Filipovic stars as Julija, a Croatian teen living with her parents on an isolated island in the Adriatic. On the surface, it seems as if they live in a sun-kissed paradise, but we soon learn that the family, especially Julija, feel frustrated and stunted there.

The visit to the island by Javier, a titan of business, brings things to a head. Javier is a lifelong friend of Julija's parents, but there are tensions between the three. Julija's father used to work for Javier, but there was a falling out between the two. Embers of a romance exist between Javier and Julija's mother. We learn that the family is financially strapped and the possibility that Javier will turn their land into a resort seems to be a last chance for them to escape the island. The father is envious of Javier's success and he takes out his resentment and anger upon Julija. His ogre like behavior culminates in him locking Julija in a dank basement as if she were a beleaguered heroine in a fairy tale.

Julija hopes Javier will rescue her and her mother and take them along with him to his seemingly magical life. This is also a dark reflection of the wish fulfillment of fairy tales in which downtrodden children find their long-lost parents to be royalty. Julija's wish turns out to be as much of a pipe dream as her father's desire to turn their property into a resort. An ambivalent ending stresses the resiliency needed for an individual to free themselves from the tyranny of their parental legacies.

I often diss films that foreground criticism of the patriarchy or capitalism or whatever at the expense of narrative and character. Ms. Kusijanovic does not fall into that trap. Because she takes the time to develop her characters, such themes emerge naturally and not heavy-handedly from her scenario. She is greatly help by the cinematography of Helene Louvart (The Lost Daughter, Happy as Lazzaro). Her work, particularly in the underwater sequences, suggest the unconscious impulses at work upon the characters of which they are only dimly aware of.