Life Between the Waters (2017)

Directed by: Ardit Sadiku | 75 minutes | drama | Actors: Jorida Meta, Kastriot Shehi, Enxhi Cuku, Klodian Hoxha, Ermela Ruri, Simon Shkreli, Lorenc Kaja, Gerald Sejdini, Elmaz Pepa, Edmond Gjata, Kledia Haxhaja, Mateo Cingu, Ervis Zaloshnja, Kristjana Dodaj, Erjamalno Lahi,azi Klajdi Papa

An auto mechanic and his unemployed wife embark on a search for their eighteen-year-old daughter after discovering she disappeared from her bedroom in the middle of the night. No one knows whether she left or was kidnapped herself and there is no sign of her. With the help of the police, they try to find out what happened, but when this doesn’t go fast enough, the father decides to take matters into his own hands.

The Albanian film ‘Life Between the Waters’ is a flat film in all respects. Every scene is covered with a kind of colorless gray sauce and the characters also remain very dull, despite the violent events. Perhaps this modesty has to do with the Albanian culture, but at first glance it seems to be due to the amateurish acting. As the film progresses, you hope there will be some character development between the three characters. You would think that the search for a missing daughter creates a kind of – negative or not – connection between the two partners. Instead, there is a lot of sighing, looking out the window and smoking; smoked a lot.

‘Life Between the Waters’ is hand-held and you can feel the camera from start to finish. In fact, it even seems that the actors find it difficult to forget the presence of the camera. They literally don’t run into it yet and look past the lens with difficulty. The editing also lacks a sense of timing. Especially during dialogues, it seems that cutting and pasting is just too early or just too late. This accumulation of imperfections unfortunately makes the film a long one, despite its short length of 75 minutes.

‘Life Between the Waters’ had the potential to be a poignant budget film if director Sadiku had taken more risks and abandoned all conventional film conceptions. Away with that pathetic music during dramatic scenes and that eternal staring into nothingness. What really happens when such an event happens to you? Unfortunately, after watching ‘Life Between the Waters’, this question remains unanswered.