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Nina
***
Dir: Olga Chajdas
Starring: Julia Kijowska, Eliza Rycembel, Andrzej Konopka
(Poland, 2hrs 10mins)
Nina tells the story of Nina (Julia Kijowska) and Wojtek (Andrzej Konopka), whose 20+ year marriage is on the rocks, even though they both seemingly still love each other. They’re stagnating and have hit a dead end because they’ve been unable to conceive. We learn though that there are other reasons why they’re unravelling. One is probably because they come from different backgrounds. Nina’s a high-school French teacher and Wojtek is a mechanic, working and middle-class meeting in the middle. Nina’s mother (Katarzyna Gniewkowska) is a huge influence – not only is she the headmistress of the school where her daughter teaches, she’s also funded their IVF treatment. That’s failed, and she‘s soon stopping the cash flow, so the couple are desperately seeking a surrogate.
That’s where airport security worker Magda (Eliza Rycembel) comes in. We’ve already met her and her female flight attendant lover. While the cat’s away, Magda can play, but when she’s back in Warsaw, Magda’s grounded. After Nina and her husband’s fruitless efforts to find a suitable woman to carry their child, Nina fortuitously backs into the wild and headstrong young woman’s car. They decide the fetching Magda is their last hope of surrogacy and hatch a plan to slowly get her to agree. They don’t know Magda is a lesbian and actually, they’re in for a big surprise because it turns out Nina is too; Magda jolts her latent sexuality awake.
While the acting is all excellent, there’s a few problems with the screenplay by Olga Chajdas and Marta Konarzewska and the direction, also by Chajdas. The dinner scene where Nina and Wojtek have invited Magda over is not what you’d expect of people wanting to get to know a future baby-carrier. Maybe Nina really doesn’t want a child, and she’s felt pressured by her husband, family and Poland’s strict Catholic society.
Another thing: As sexually charged as their scenes together are, Nina and Magda don’t mesh as a believable couple. What do they have in common, really? The older teacher and mid-20s club-hopping, sexually free spirit – short-term fun but long-term relationship material? Nina would have benefited with more scenes of them picking each other’s brains and getting to know each other instead of so many of the classroom. The two turn 180 degrees so quickly, and their affair is rushed; too much time is spent on repetitive matter to justify the second half.
This is wirter/director Chajdas’ first feature film, and she’s said this work isn’t meant to portray the situation of Polish lesbian life: it’s primarily about love. In Poland civil partnerships are not formally recognised, with no same-sex marriage either, although trans people are legally allowed to change gender and there are a anti-discrimination laws. Nina, winner of the Rotterdam International Film Festival’s 2018 Big Screen award, is an worthwhile addition to LGBT+ cinema community, woman facing a new reality and life, coming out of her cocoon and blossoming in more ways than one.
words Rhonda Lee Reali
Nina is out now. Nina screened as part of Iris Festival in 2018.