Writer: Filip K. Kasperaszek, Anna Kazejak
Director: Anna Kazejak
Despite its in-your-face title, Anna Kazejak’s Fucking Bornholm is a relatively gentle, semi-comic meditation on parenthood and married life. Maja and Hubert are a forty-something Polish couple who set off with their two young sons Kaj and Eryk for a camping weekend on Bornholm. They’ve been to this beautiful Danish island before and still use Hubert’s father’s beloved camper van. Hubert’s old friend Dawid is joining them. He’s divorced, but has recently acquired a new girlfriend Nina a psychology student. This is the first time Nina has met Maja and Hubert who are sharply aware of the age difference between them. But she seems to get on with Dawid’s son, Wiktor.
At the beginning the film invites us to speculate on the tensions between the four adults. Maja watches with disapproval as Nina seems to flirt with her husband. But Maja seems to be unhappy about something else, fretting about her children and cold towards her husband. She impatiently brushes off Nina’s attempts at friendship. When they arrive on the island, there are some light-hearted comic moments you’d expect of camping trip films. A younger Swedish couple have taken the camping spot Hubert has pre-booked; the pregnant wife refuses to move and Hubert flies off the handle. There will be a pleasingly small-minded battle between them throughout the film. But Bornholm itself looks idyllic with its unspoilt sand dunes and woodland and once the camper vans are set up close to the sea, and the boys race off for a swim, all seems set fair.
The drama that follows comes from an unexpected source. Tension flares up between the boys Eryk and Wiktor who both become silent and withdrawn. The adults press anxiously to uncover the issue. There seems to have been some sort of sexual experimentation between they boys which has left Eryk distressed. The two couples try various methods to get each boy to talk, but their story remains opaque. It’s quite a promising set up for the film. A psychological link is hinted at between the adults’ unhappiness and their children’s behaviour – Jung and dreams are mentioned, seemingly as signposts. But what is disappointing about Fucking Bornholm is that this plot line is allowed to peter out.
Instead the film now focuses on Maja’s unhappiness. Agnieska Growchowska as Maja has something of the stillness and beauty of Juliette Binoche and she is certainly watchable. But the new twist in the story doesn’t come as much surprise, and what the consequences will be is again left hanging. Grzegorz Damiecki and Maciej Stuhr are well cast as immature forty-somethings, Dawid and Hubert. Hubert in particular has issues, repeatedly overreacting to minor incidents.
There are some appealing scenes set by a lake that is always mysteriously shrouded in mist while the rest of the island is bathed in sunshine. Jakub Stolecki’s cinematography is certainly beautiful. Also appealing is the original soundtrack by Jerzy Rogiewicz which is reminiscent of some of Vivaldi’s most insistent music. But here again there is a mismatch. As the unfolding story is only slight, the urgency of the soundtrack feels overstated. A pleasing but undemanding watch.
Kinoteka Polish Film Festival 2023 takes place in venues across London 9 March – 27 April. For further information and tickets: https://kinoteka.org.uk/
