Nina (2018)

Directed by: Olga Chajdas | 130 minutes | drama, romance | Actors: Julia Kijowska, Eliza Rycembel, Andrzej Konopka, Maria Peszek, Katarzyna Gniewkowska, Tatiana Pauhofová

It is a plot with a long film history. We already knew him from ‘A woman like Eva’ (1979), ‘When Night is Falling’ (1995) and recently from ‘Carol’ (2015). A married woman meets a cute young girl and finds out that she actually prefers someone of her own sex. This discovery brings with it difficult questions and even more difficult choices.

Enter the Polish drama ‘Nina’. The title character is a French teacher who threatens to get stuck in a childless marriage. To solve the latter, Nina and her husband look for a surrogate mother, one who must look like Nina. Then the young Magda comes along, a natural beauty with a completely androgynous character. There is chemistry between the women from the very first minute, but can Nina handle the pressure of husband, family and employer?

‘Nina’ is the feature debut of the Polish director Olga Chajdas. The film alternates between warm intimate scenes and chilly scenes in the open air. The intimate scenes are dipped in fifty shades of red, the color of love and passion. In the outdoor scenes, we see Warsaw as we imagined it during the Cold War. Cold, grey, peeling, with people who would rather avoid each other than meet. At the same time ugly and strangely attractive.

The acting is also good. The young Eliza Rycembel plays a beautiful role as tomboy Magda. At the same time rugged and vulnerable. Attractive, but in the most disinterested way imaginable. Julia Kijowska and Andrzej Konopka are also convincing as the exhausted couple Nina and Wojtek.

But then the story. There’s nothing in ‘Nina’ that hasn’t been told before in all those famous predecessors. From the revealing first meeting, to the very first kiss, to the misunderstood husband, to the euphoria, to the first cracks, to the exciting new experience of a lesbian dance, to the first divorce talks. And what to do with the soggy and inevitable ending?

For those who don’t mind (or have never seen one of those predecessors) ‘Nina’ is a pleasantly atmospheric drama. With one of the saddest sex scenes ever and the long-awaited answer to the question of what it’s like to have a smartphone to hand in the womb. Nice long-playing debut, great promise for the future.