2005.05.25
Beneath her Window
Dove into SIFF 2005 in earnest last night, with Beneath Her Window, a lighthearted — hesitate to say “fluffy” — Slovenian film of the “creepy stalking voyeur turns into cute & eccentric romance” variety (think Wes Bentley from American Beauty but less on the creepy and more on the cute & eccentric). There’s a certain brand of movie I can’t help but find myself enjoying, in spite of not-so-subtly squicky undertones (Korean teacher-student love triangle comedy Lovely Rivals being a recent example I could name). It’s kind of a delicate balancing act, but I think this one worked. I mean! Stalking is totally no joke, but I guess this is lighthearted escapism and I can understand that.
I suppose if you can’t believe in the occasional fairy tale at the cinema, then it’s probably too late for you — at least as far as the cinema goes.
In the real creepiness of the night, Slovenia’s film industry seems to be populated with younger, cloned versions of British film stars — the result of some horrific cold war-era Soviet experimentation? I counted Helen Mirren, Jeremy Irons and Clive Owen in this movie’s main romantic triangle alone!