Slow

Approaching "Slow" or "Tu man nieko neprimeni" as a Lithuanian, I had hoped for a step forward in our film industry. Regrettably, this film succumbs to the same issues that often plague Lithuanian cinema: protracted scenes that contribute little to the narrative and an overemphasis on mundane everyday life moments. This film could have easily shed a significant portion of its runtime and still conveyed its intended message effectively.

While the film's underlying theme of asexuality held promise, it often deviates off course with superfluous dance sequences, peculiar moments like the main character Dovydas eating a sandwich or a McDonald's burger for no apparent reason, and awkward English interjections in Lithuanian dialogue. These numerous diversions detract from the film's primary theme and overall potential.

Admittedly, there were some commendable moments, such as the endearing portrayal of the two main characters engaging in the seemingly mundane task of hanging laundry. For me, this touching scene stands out amid the film's shortcomings. Nonetheless, these fleeting highlights fail to outweigh the movie's overall drawbacks.

I remain hopeful that Lithuanian cinema will rise above its stagnation and embrace more concise and impactful storytelling. However, "Slow" is a disappointing step in the wrong direction.

As an aroace myself, it is always delightful to see more producers, directors, and writers start to dive into the asexual cohort and increase the visibility of our group of people.

The film is very slow-paced, effusive, and relaxing. The two protagonists are likeable and authentic, making the watching experience quite entertaining. On top of that, the soundtrack is spot-on. The guy, an asexual character, is a nearly perfect example of ace, at least as the official definition suggests, while the female protagonist is very sexually active, so the clash of the two in a romantic relationship is basically about the ever-lasting topic: Are sex and love inseparable? Although the story and the conflicts between the two are pretty predictable-if you're also ace you know the drill-the film itself is not a letdown for its smoothness and completeness. Nevertheless, I wish the film could dig deeper into the asexual character's personal struggles and his history.

Saw this back at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival

"Slow" is a story about Dancer Elena and sign language interpreter Dovydas meet and form a beautiful bond. As they dive into a new relationship, they must navigate how to build their own kind of intimacy. There are many romance stories that follow this similar structure and it tends to become very predictable with each move the story decides to go. Despite it's familiar, the film still works because director Marija Kavtaradze was able to take a different approach with the story and creates an interesting and realistic story about love with interesting characters. The camerawork, sound design and production is really good as the presentation reminds me a lot of The Worst Person in the World in a good way.

Many of the performances were really good as the two main lead have perfect chemistry between each other which helps to make the characters feel nature and interesting throughout. Character study films are really interesting as it provides an guide to understand how the human life works throughout many lens. "Slow" does have it's flaws as some of the pacing moments could be improved and the narrative does fall a bit uneven halfway as certain aspects didn't feel fully fleshed out or understand where it wants to go. Some of the supporting characters felt they could have been written a little better since they felt like they were just there and didn't offer too much impact to the film.

Overall, it's a simple yet effective romance story and I did enjoy it quite a lot.

Rating: B+

It is very strange to define it because each verdict sounds very subjectiv.

A dancer and and a sign language interpreter meets for a task of job. But their relation becomes more profound . And complicated, him being asexual, she being passioned by...life.

The easy thing is to appreciate the acting, both , Greta Grineviciute and Kestutis Cicena being just great.

Second, to applause the story ( and music ) reminding few Soviet films from the last 1980 decade, defined, like Slow, by well suggested melancholia. Because it is not so pleasant story to understand - feel the relation between main characters , relation based by honest definition of vulnerability.

For me, just a profound beautiful movie , especially for sweet- bitter air and for fair portraits of ordinary people in complicated relation of love.

A great acting duo. The movie about others and also about yourself. Slow and fast, it makes you think about the questions left behind. Only after the end of the movie I finally understood why the movie started like that. Pros: realistic, lively, visually beautiful, good soundtrack, the movie allows you to see a different relationship with different points of view and their choices. Small cons: details, maybe more dialogues, were sometimes too artificial (for example, talking with other actors).

I have seen both movies from this great director. This one is different and has much more power in small things.