Murina

Adolescence is a time for finding oneself, especially when it comes to our sense of personal power. That's rarely easy, but it can be especially difficult for a teenage girl trapped in a household with a chauvinistic father, a condition not uncommon in many traditional Eastern European households. Such is the fate of a quiet but independently minded Croatian adolescent who longs for freedom from under the thumb of her domineering dad and capitulating mother. But the potential for profound change arises when a wealthy old friend of her father pays a visit to their coastal fishing village, one that could transform her life and that of her mother, provided they have the courage to act on it. Director Antoneta Alamat Kusijanovic's debut feature from Executive Producer Martin Scorsese presents an intense, intimate character study of an individual's search for empowerment in the face of oppressing odds and confusing circumstances that, like the clandestine behavior of the moray eels she and her father routinely hunt, deceptively conceal much of what's actually going on. This winner of the 2021 Cannes Film Festival Golden Camera Award for best first feature simmers slowly but builds tension well, engaging viewers handily, despite some repetitive narrative elements and occasional "atmospheric" camera work whose deliberate murkiness goes a little overboard in metaphorically depicting the intended character of the story. A number of films with themes similar to those explored here have emerged from this region in recent years, such as "Hive" (2021) and "God Exists, Her Name is Petrunya" (2019). That's an indication that there's a need for the expression of these notions, and, thankfully, filmmakers have successfully risen to the occasion, making the world more aware about conditions for women desperately in need of reform.

Cowriter (with Frank Graziano)/director Antoneta Alamat Kusijanovic's Camera d'or winning feature debut recharges the coming-of-age story with multi-generational sexual heat and a constant threat of danger in a sun-splashed, Adriatic setting. Before the man Ante describes as 'god on earth' arrives, Julija dutifully accompanies her father to spearfish for the titular eels before returning to her room where she watches vacationing teenagers flirt on a yacht below her window.

When she's not capturing the sparkling sea and dramatic underwater scenes, cinematographer Hélène Louvart ("The Lost Daughter") uses angles like these to add weight to the viewer's point of view - Murina will look down again from a height at a very different type of flirting (and we will gaze up at her, a statuesque sea nymph in an aqua one piece). There will also be tight spaces promising danger, like the rocks Ante recklessly pilots a boat through or the underwater crevice Julija risks for an escape.

Then Javier arrives and he appears to be everything Ante is not, appreciative of the women's beauty, encouraging Julija to expand her dreams and think of going to Harvard. Javier's attentions make Julija bolder and Ante angrier. Julija tells Nela that Javier is obviously in love with her and that they should leave with him, but the older beauty knows better. Afraid that his daughter's rebellious behavior will sink his business deal, Ante does what she's been accusing him of wanting to do, literally locking her up in a boathouse. The man needs to watch his back.

Kusijanovic counters sensuality with tension throughout, accentuated by the tautly vibrating violins of "Loveless" composers Evgueni and Sasha Galperine. The overlapping interplay of two sets of three, the dysfunctional family and the flirtatious love triangle, is beautifully acted, Filipovic wordlessly displaying mercurial emotions between the extremes of Lucev and Curtis. "Murina" is a bold and beautiful expression of one young woman's bolt for freedom.

A lovely film that transports you back to summer , , also a well performed and excellently written and directed film.

Essentially, it tells the story of a young woman and her domineering father on vacation in Croatia, swimming, snorkelling and seemingly following his expectations for her future, that is until a an old friend of the family comes along and sees how she is being stifled by her own father, so tries to help her break out and find her own potential. The results are tense and dramatically powerful but ring true as an honest coming of age tale. It's all wonderfully done and with a real sense of location, summer, youth and beauty. Well worth a watch.

Julija loves the sea and to foray, but is she the metaphorical moray, trapped in a creel, caught on a reel, with a father that treats her as quarry.

Beautiful film, top drawer performances, growing up can be tough!

That will remind you that the hvratskanian archipelagos is one of the most prescious and beautiful places on earth, warm water clear seas, and finally a film with an actor that really knows how to swim (im a swimfan you know), good looking she is too to say the least, a film about a small family that is on the brink of devastation, a dominant and commanding kinda psychopath, seaworthy but landfast captain of the sea, a fragile daughter whos adolescence and urge to break free is imminent, and where the mother stands helpless inbetween them both. When a long lost friend visits everything turns cataclysmic..-.

Its an european art movie that will be praised by most critics, even by the grumpy old man, who dove a lot in this area when a young boy, still feeling the itching spikes of the black sea urchins of paradise. A film to watch for natural beauty, both human and scenic, great filmography and a sore and at times agonizing and asphyxiating on the issues of family relations.