Horst in Translation ([email protected])
The award-winning "Anna" is a Danish 35-minute movie from 2009, so two more years and this one will have its 10th anniversary. It is a short film written and directed by Icelandic filmmaker Rúnar Rúnarsson and at that point he was already an Oscar nominee for one of his previous works. Actually, this one we have here was his last short film work before he went on directing full feature films. This is the story of a girl during the formative years of her life, during puberty and while falling in love for the first time. There is also an insight into her family life and the relationship with her mother in particular. While the film had some solid moments overall (I liked the jealousy scene especially in the water), I cannot say I was too amazed by what I watched. Of course, a film can be quietly convincing and I am sure this is the direction the filmmaker was taking here or trying to take as it is really much more about the atmosphere than about spectacular things happening or extraordinary plot/character developments. But sadly, I never thought the way the characters were depicted felt like something deep or truly extraordinary and the performances weren't too convincing either, by the supporting players especially as the lead actress was fine, which may also have had to do with the script. I must say that from a 35-minute film, which is short but not as short as many others I just expect more from that and once again I am not impressed by Rúnarsson's work. have to give this one a thumbs-down. Watch something else instead.
