ShooMedia

The problem with Ingrid Veninger’s Modra is it’s not much of a film. Two American teenagers visit a small European town, one trying to reconnect with her ethnic background, both trying to make sense of adolescent hormones. On the one hand, to say it’s not much of a film is a facile over-simplification – the director’s connection with the story is obvious in the amount of work she and her crew have put in, not to mention some beautifully naturalistic performances from her leads.

On the other hand, it’s plain to see Veninger is a little too connected to the project; she went through a similar experience as a young woman, and this is evident for all the wrong reasons. Modra starts out well, but it steadily falls apart as you realise it’s less a film than a video diary. It wants to talk about young people trying to find an identity for themselves, or how the world works. But the way the director tells her story gives the impression when she’s talking to the younger generation she’s saying this is the way things are, rather than offering her take on events as concerned advice.

Lina (Hallie Switzer) is the one who’s organised the trip, wanting to visit the little town in Slovakia she spent her early childhood in, just before her parents had to flee the country. Just as the film starts, though, her boyfriend – who she was planning on travelling with – has just dumped her. Completely by chance Lina gets a phone call from her schoolmate Leco (Alexander Gammal), who wants to try his luck asking her out. On a whim, Lina asks Leco if he’d like to come to Europe with her.

Switzer and Gammal are easily the best thing about the film, all but carrying the first act together. Neither looks much like the stereotypical idealised teenager (she too curvy, he a little too brooding and introspective) but they’re both good-looking and personable enough it seems believable Lina and Leco would be attracted to each other. Both are plausibly eloquent, though not too much – able to make small talk easily enough but clearly conflicted, with Lina wondering whether bringing a stranger along was such a good idea and Leco wondering what he stands to get out of the trip.
Read More:- http://twitchfilm.com/reviews/2011/04/biff-2011-modra-review.php