Tuesday, December 4, 2012

A Trip (2011)

A Trip • Izlet (2011)
A Trip • Izlet (2011)
Genre: Drama
Director: Nejc Gazvoda
Starring: Luka Cimpric, Jure Henigman, Nina Rakovec
Language: Slovene
Duration: 81 min.
Rating: 7.2
Summary:
Three friends embark on a nostalgic road trip.
A Trip is the debut feature film from Slovenian writer and director Nejc Gazvoda. It premiered at the 2011 Sarajevo Film festival. It is Slovenia's official submission to the 2013 Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film.

Three young friends: college dropout Andrej (Luka Cimpric), enlisted soldier Gregor (Jure Henigman), and the female of the group, Ziva (Nina Rakovec) who has plans to study abroad, decide to take one last road trip to the sea like they used to do in highschool.

A Trip • Izlet (2011)

On the surface, it's yet another coming-of-age road movie where a group of young adults share profound emotional experiences before going their separate ways and move on with their lives. Not all that original of a premise, however this one is surprisingly well written and acted, and is also technically impressive for its budget.

Gazvoda's screenplay works well, developing its characters through sharp but realistic dialog and slowly revealing the narrative's direction without ever resorting to the usual predictable cliches. There isn't really much of a conventional plot, but that works in the film's favor as that keeps it interesting and unpredictable all the way through. As well, these three are real people, with all the flaws that come with that; and the three actors play off each other in a natural and believable way that makes it a captivating watch.

A Trip • Izlet (2011)

There are some clever stylistic tricks used to keep things fresh. The handheld cinematography varies from tight intimate closeups that often focus intently on the characters faces instead of what they are looking at; to wide long shots that take full advantage of the natural lighting and beauty of the Slovenian countryside. There's also an atmospheric electronic soundtrack by New Wave Syria that fits rather nicely, and the tracks are edited into the film with crafty stops and starts synced with the action that aren't erratic or gimmicky.

Not quite an award winner, and nothing we haven't seen before either, but it's a solid film debut that hopefully opens some doors for the talented cast and crew.
Bonjour Tristesse
A Trip • Izlet (2011)

A Trip • Izlet (2011)

A Trip • Izlet (2011)

A Trip • Izlet (2011)

A Trip • Izlet (2011)

A Trip • Izlet (2011)

3 comments:

The Angry Lurker said...

I've always liked a good road movie.

Bonjour Tristesse said...

This one's not bad at all, if you happen to run into it. Thanks for the comment Lurker.

d_4 said...

This sounds alright. I don't think I'll really search for it, but I won't deny it a watch if I get the chance.

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