Hranice Lásky

Borders of Love seems authentic and that works in its favour. I mean, it really seems like Hana and Petr are in a regular long-term relationship, and that's very relatable. Their journey into something wild and new is progressive and also very well done. As with other stories of this type, we expect the cracks to eventually appear, and they do soon enough. Hana dives deeper into the new arrangement than Petr, starts to break the rules of engagement and pushes the boundaries too far.

Honesty, jealousy and commitment issues are standard ingredients for any relationship drama, but the mixture works well here. I really did enjoy Borders of Love very much and would recommend it to anyone who has an interest in erotic dramas that focus more on the characters rather than being gratuitous.

... actually not a film about an open relationship as an open relationship's a relationship that's sexually non-monogamous.. generally indicating where there's a primary emotional and intimate relationship between two partners, who agree to at least the possibility of sexual or emotional intimacy with other people

... here this wonderful little film beautifully shows how she becomes addicted to intense-sexual-pleasure=gratification with another-sex-partner not her romantic-life-partner, and how it affects their entire lives... this a very well done film of this limited sex-addiction-sub-genre.. there are others having achieved good results, BOL just does it with few missteps.. sure, you can nitpick over close-up-camera-filming, a minor annoyance to the overall work

... every actor more than likely you've not seen-heard-of-before are outstanding, and the few times there is nudity it enhances-emphasizes the storyline... it was a complete surprise coming across this great-little-movie... number of short little scenes that are memorable quite extensive, and final flashback showing what was shattered-haunting ... it has readily become one of the best films encountered-watched this year

... another film watched recently 'Odotus' (The Wait) where the husband also quietly-sat-waiting-listening while another man was having passionate sex with his wife moaning in ecstasy... both films ended not too long after those intense scenes (both unrealistic, one much more than the other).. each movie having very differing outcome for the participants... when-so-callous-cruel forgiveness becomes unreasonable.

I watched the movie on KVIFF. I had lower expectations from it after reading the plot summary. I was positively surprised.

"Hranice lásky" gave me the reason for a good laugh and to have a deeper reflection at the same time.

The two protagonists, Petr and Hana, fail to communicate honestly with each other at critical moments during their experiment with an open relationship. Hana doesn't let Petr know she broke the rules by seeing someone else more than once (because he was really good at sex), and Petr never disclosed his true feelings about his girlfriend having sex with other people until it was far too late.

But the most egregious liar was Petr, by far, because he felt that way from the beginning and hid it from Hana. If only he'd been honest with her every step of the way, they never would've gotten so far down that rabbit hole. He was also quite selfish, indulging in the open relationship when he saw fit without a guilt in the world, but judging Hana for doing the same. She didn't tell him the truth one time, but she was otherwise amazingly open and honest about her escapades whenever they talked afterwards.

The movie has a small cast, but they were all very good in their roles and the critical roles of the two protagonists, who dominate the film, were very well played. It's a slow-moving film and some things didn't work for me, like the endless close-up cell-phone filming between Petr and Hana (a little bit of that would've sufficed), and the too-heavy, too-slow focus on Petr towards the end of the movie. But overall, an effective movie...I can't quite say enjoyable or entertaining because it's a downer of a film despite a fair amount of eroticism.

Which I reckon you could also apply to different people outside your relationship. Open relationships ... they may sound fun - but we never know what the other person is feeling about them. Not to mention our own feelings - we may say and think it is ok at first ... but is this our final thought? Will we change our mind? Things to ... well think about for sure.

Love has not borders - well I reckon passion is the one with no borders. But love? Well depending on the person it actually can be finite ... and for most it is ... you love one person usually ... they love you back (hopefully) or if you are unlucky, you pray you'll find someone else ... someone who does appreciate you.

Now having intimate sexual encounters ... with "strangers" is one thing - does this give anyone a free pass ... even if they have been given the ok from the partner? Very tough to say ... until you actually are in the situation ... try to be civil ... love is in the air ... but it can also go up in flames if you are not watching out for it.

There is nudity in case you were wondering, there are somewhat explicit situations ... but if you expect this movie to ... well excite you ... it may fail to do so ... because it does concentrate on the personal dilemmas ... and issues. Plus relationship and all that stuff.