Varuh meje

During the first 20 or so minutes of the movie, I was afraid that this was going to be yet another cheap attempt to make a day-horror film: three girls take a trip down the river dividing Slovenia and Croatia.

But, it turned out to be one of the best films from Slovenia I have ever seen. The movie is not an attempt at excellent directing or acting. All of the technical accepts are very average, but good enough to make you concentrate on the actual plot.

Not that there is a clear-cut plot. The movies is more of a statement, or a description, of differences between good and bad, moral and immoral and different understandings of social norms.

Although the film does deal with LGBT issues, it seems that Maja Weiss is only using this theme to deal with many more issues.

Characters are never developed and I didn't get the feeling that the movie is about them, they simply represent certain aspects of society.

As the film takes place in Slovenia (and Croatia), I would recommend to watch it, since it takes a different approach than "western" movies dealing with these kinds of issues would.

Three young college women, Simona (Iva Krajnc), Alja (Tanja Potocnik), and Zana (Pia Zemljic), go on an adventure canoing down the River Kolpa, dividing their Slovenia from neighboring Croatia, in this 2002 Slovenian film by Maya Weiss. What could have been an Eastern European version of the well-known and exciting 1972 "Deliverance" turned out, for me, to be utterly uninspiring with flat character portrayals that denied sympathetic identification with the characters.

Alja and Zana are not convincing as students at all, though Alja expresses a desire to be a writer, and both use what seemed to me to be excessive bad language. Alja is bored with her boyfriend and seems to just be drifting along in life. Zana, even less scholarly, is a self-absorbed adventure seeker with an attraction to other women. I had some sympathy with relatively innocent Simona, conservative and starry eyed. The very idea of these three traveling together just doesn't work for me. The disdain that Zana and Alja show toward Simona makes no sense - why would they choose her as a travel companion to start with as surely they must know her demeanor and attitudes?

The three begin a carefree journey down the river on two canoes, undeterred by a news story of a woman's disappearance along the river. Things become more somber with the mysterious appearance, sometimes real and sometimes possibly hallucinatory, of a rabidly conservative fisherman politician (Jonas Znidarsic).

I did enjoy the scenes along the river and of small villages the trio visit. It may be because of a lack of cultural understanding, but the film didn't move me otherwise. I was surprised to see that the film has won some awards.

One has to suspect that misadventure will occur when three college girls plan a trip down the river dividing Slovenia and Croatia. After all, the paper reports a similar girl missing from a trip from friends. Is there something lurking in the woods?

The trip down the river was a sight to behold. The scenery was absolutely beautiful - that included two of the girls who decided to get more of a tan! Yes, the wildlife on the river is spectacular to watch; as is the wildlife going down the river, but who is that man that keeps popping up?

The politics of Slovenia and Croatia, and the contrasting values of city folk and country folk keep recurring through the movie. Right-wing speeches made it seem like a Republican convention.

It went into a fantasy after that and it is left up to the viewer to determine what happened, but it certainly challenges the imagination and beliefs.

Can't recommend this silly effort unless you're really into Slovenian T&A.

Three potty-mouthed bratz from Ljubljana canoe topless to Croatia seemingly unaware of the distraction they cause to the local peasantry. Hm... or are they really so unwitting?

Throughout the overlong running time, these three empty-headed boobs talk obsessively about sex and advertise their young bodies to old men, grannies, retards and wildlife. Eventually they provoke the response they are looking for, bringing down the wrath of the ancient Slavic pagans.

The theme of contemporary banality vs. primeval mysticism is presented symbolically and would have been more successful if it had been taken further in this direction. What the viewer is left with is a film about how women instinctively eroticize their fears, particularly their fear of The Other - a philosophical concept much in favor throughout the writings of Slovenian academic Zizek. The Other here is symbolized by the creepy wilderness of Croatia where folk are lawless, inscrutable and potentially deadly. Our girls absorb just enough terror and brutality to lubricate their sex lives and one girl is apparently led to ovulation - the deepest chamber of her womanhood.

And when they finally escape their frenzied all-night ordeal they return to the prosaic comforts of civilization, where beer tastes crappy, rock bands suck, relationships fall apart and old coots still make lame passes at teenage hotties.

So, Guardians of the Border really only succeeds in being a sexy travelogue. If only Croatia really were this interesting...

Three `big city' college beauties use their summer vacation to go on a backwoods canoe trip down the Kolpa river which divides off limits Croatia from Slovenia. Overtly ominous background music and `Peeping Tom' camera angles warn us of the wild dangers this world has to offer. Yet what appears at first to be a Slovinian `Blair Witch Project' develops instead into a slightly murky exploration of political, cultural and religious constraints. Fearless lesbian, Zana, is looking for love and acceptance and tries to get it from her friend Alja. Simona wants to be seduced and begins to imagine the local xenophobic traditionalist as her Prince Charming. Alja seeks independence from her cloying boyfriend, overbearing father, judgmental roommate Simona and now her new lover Zana. In addition to confronting their own demons on the journey the girls are confronted with homophobia, racism, nationalism, traditionalism, sexism and terrorism. Unfortunately much of the film's impact gets lost towards the end as it oscillates too wildly between fantasy and reality. This film does however provide high production values, fine acting, an intriguing concept, sophisticated humor, gorgeous locals and a delightful Slovenian pop soundtrack.