Sworn Virgin

2016 • 87 minuuttia

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SWORN VIRGIN follows a young woman named Hana who lives in an Albanian village ruled by men, and she takes an oath of eternal virginity to live as a “sworn virgin” becoming Mark, so she can live free as a man. Years later, restless and feeling imprisoned by his choice, Mark leaves for Italy to visit his sister and family. There, he explores the unexpected pleasures of attraction and the body and decides to abandon Mark, rediscovering herself (himself) as Hana, to become a new and liberated person.

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Cinematographically, the film is a work of almost typical art-house cinema fare, often overdramatic in its unnecessarily shaky camera movement, yet one shot stands apart with exceptional executional grace. As the swim hall begins to close down, the object of Mark’s desire — a lifeguard played by a near-silent Lars Eidinger — collects the pools’ dividing lanes as the hall’s final swimmer pushes on slowly and Mark watches contemplatively. It is a scene of pure cinema, conveying all of its conflicted emotions through a slow temporal progression and silent gazes. The shot alone is a work of great artistic integrity, but it is regretfully unique in the context of Sworn Virgin as a whole. http://www.thefocuspull.com/features/berlinale-2015-sworn-virgin/