Modra

The first moments of Modra wonderfully express the speed at which things happen when a person is in his/her teen years. Seventeen Year-Old Lina has just been dumped by her boyfriend Tyler, who weakly tells her to enjoy her trip to Slovenia (but she's actually going to Slovakia). Then, a seventeen year-old named Leco calls Lina, who does not recognize Leco's voice and must be reminded that her and the boy on the other end of the phone go to the same high school. After trying to ask Lina out on a date, Leco receives an invitation to accompany her on her trip to Slovakia since Tyler will no longer be going. Leco's father agrees, and the teens are soon in Slovakia. This all happens within the first five minutes of the film, with little melodrama and a lot of cleverly-placed ellipses that do not confuse the audience, but enhance the feeling of impulsivity that is so often connected to adolescence.

The rest of Modra deals with Lina meeting her extended family, which is spread throughout the small Slovakian town of Modra. Leco frequently attends these meetings and becomes Lina's friend very quickly. A romance inevitably blossoms between the two, but leads to unexpected places in the narrative.

Although the story of Modra might strike many as an Eat Pray Love scenario, wherein the main character goes to Europe to escape a bad breakup and finds love along the way (maybe). And, sometimes, only rarely, the film's predictability gets the better of it. But to dismiss the film as an exercise in cliché would be short-sighted and wrong. Within its simple narrative, Modra contains fine grains of subtlety. It visually and verbally expresses the nuances of its characters and their development with great care, precision, and true emotion. This is a film about the trials of adolescent friendship, and it feels as if director/screenwriter Ingrid Veningier took extensive notes when she was going through her own teen years.

Like "Y Tu Mama Tambien," Modra is, at bottom, a film about the intensity of teenage friendship and the problems that arise out of that intensity. I do not want to stress that comparison too much, however, because, besides their themes, the two films are very different in execution. Instead of learning about their sexual development while the country disintegrates in the background, Lina and Leco learn about their social selves during their peaceful week in Slovakia, and learn to understand the issues that plagued them before their trip, including the death of a mother and the blissful ignorance of teenage love. This development is not handled in a glib or maudlin manner, however, and every time the tiniest change happens in the characters, it happens out of a great internal struggle (that is expertly expressed by newcomers Hallie Switzer and Alexander Gammal).

Additionally, this is one of the first North American films about travelling abroad that I have seen which does not simply use Europe as a backdrop. Modra makes the audience feel as if they took a trip to a small Slovakian town, capturing the people, monuments, and customs very well without exploiting or exoticizing them. The supporting cast is outstanding. The performance of Branislav Durgovic as Cousin Branko is particularly funny and touching.

This is a great little film that captures what it is like to travel with someone you barely know, while simultaneously examining the arduous maturation process of adolescence. I would highly recommend this film to anyone who is interested in a good, simple story about youths abroad.

The film relates how these two teenagers, Lena and Leco, arrive from Toronto, Canada, in semi-rural Slovakia and it follows their interactions with the locals including Lena's relatives - and Leco's first ever experience of European culture. The couple is not 'an item' - Lena asked Leco to come at the last minute because her boyfriend had just ditched her and she had a spare ticket (they must have been lucky because I have never been able to switch the name on a bargain ticket!).

The depiction of life in Slovakia seems pretty authentic and moderately interesting. It's not very colourful but the local characters are natural and not exaggerated (as with your 'stage' Italian or Irishman with lots of Mamma Mias and Begorrahs!). The cinematography is sound if rather uninspired - but the Bratislava area is not all that scenic in any case and we witness a truthful depiction of a "Europeanized" modern former Communist country - drab still, but picking up. Nobody seems to comment on Lena's nose-ring which is believable.

My problem with this movie is with the characterizations - we discover hardly anything about Lena, she is totally dull and empty throughout and if this film is aiming to depict the lives of dull people, then it does a great job. The question then becomes was it worthwhile doing when you are probably going to bore the heck out of your audience? Leco is a bit more interesting and seems to be much better mannered than your average seventeen year old - his reaction to this new culture is of some interest and is believable.

My opinion is that the director chose to work with some pretty boring characters and in so doing was bound to produce a dull film - it would have taken a phenomenal talent to breathe much life into this story.

Two 17 year old kids, a girl (Lina) and a guy (Leco), from Toronto, who don't know each other well at all, are thrown together in an unusual and awkward situation involving weird relatives in Slovakia. Just kick back, relax and let the comedy of Modra unfold.

But think about it. Have you ever grown up in one place and then returned to the small town home of your grandparents? What if the small town is in a foreign country that your family fled because of war? And you haven't seen your large extended family for years if ever? And you are confused already about your place in the world and identity? With a guy in your class who you don't know very well?

What if they think you are together? What if you don't fit, with him and with them? What if you can't speak the language?

What if your family is pretending they are more perfect than they are? What about the geopolitical conflict that tore your family apart? (As the aunts, sisters, brothers and cousins who stayed behind the Iron Curtain in Slovakia and were out of touch for 25 years. )

What will be the happily ever after? If anything? Modra does not answer this question thank goodness.

It's a good movie.

(2010) Modra DRAMA

Produced, written and directed by Ingrid Veninger with "Modra" as the movie is called is the name of a village in Slovakia where 17 year old, Lina's (Hallie Switzer) mom, used to come from and has for her to visit extended relatives, except that her current boyfriend, Tyler (Hugh Mater) has just broke up with her, Leco (Alexander Gammal) becoming her substitute to go in his place except that they have very little in common.

The movie is somewhat subtle and interesting depicting a culture some may not be too familiar with. The Ingrid character is more relatable than say Scarlet Johanson's character in "Lost in Translation".

This film by Canadian film-maker Ingrid Veninger is a first-rate depiction of teenage emotions and behaviour, beautifully set in the small Slovakian town of Modra. The director may have taken advantage of family members to save costs, but there was no adverse affect on the quality of the acting, especially with the female lead, Hallie Switzer (the director's daughter).

The film accurately and poignantly portrays the impulsiveness - and the sometimes cruelty - of teenage emotions. Never cliché, the plot at all times comes across as plausible and very real. It brought back for me the excruciating and exhilarating moments of self-discovery, especially the painful ones of immature behaviour. This is no John Hughes story of teenagers.

And the use of the European setting of Modra brought an added dimension to the story. So often a foreign location is used merely as a plot device to get characters out of their home environment, but in this case the town of Modra and its inhabitants added complexity and an authenticity to the story.

I first saw the film in 2010 and recently watched the film for a second time. Modra is worth repeat screenings!