49/10

Two teenagers, dreaming of escaping the bleakness of their hometown, form a unique bond at a local modeling school, where the promise of a better life drives the girls to violate their bodies in increasingly extreme ways. Director Saule Bliuvaite met at the NYC Baltic Film Festival at the Scandinavian House after a screening of "Toxic" and as I write this review 2 days later it is clear that he is Auteur! Slow tracking shots capturing a post-Soviet industrial small Lithuanian countryside with broken cars for scrap. But with vibrant characters playing basketball, fixing cars, modeling, drinking, kissing and searching for life beyond the past in the post-Soviet bloc. When I spoke to Saul, I mentioned Harmony Korine’s Kids (directed by Larry Clark), which explores the same themes of adolescence but set against a different New York City backdrop. Despite the stark difference in the gender and emotional goals of the main characters, their journeys are the same in seeking comfort and affection or parental guidance in TOXIC environments: booze, smoking, sex, and parental absence. Go see it – not for the drama, but the bare bones stripped of the cinematic aura of naked bodies (the sauna scene), but the desire… The desire to be in sync with your parents, your neighbors, the grocer, but most of all, your adolescent, evolving self in an ever-changing or unchanging socio-economic landscape. I’m not a father – but after watching this, I understand why my parents needed to know where I was after school. To be continued Saul – thank you for taking the first director/fan photo with me in Scandinavia Dom. To be continued … in the Auteur Film series 🙂

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