A quiet film, this. Sparse dialog, no sudden movement, you almost hesitate to breathe while you watch in case you might disturb what appears on screen.
The latest offering from Bas Devos has won the Encounters section at Berlin 2023 and Best International Film at Galway Film Festival, and it has done it with the minimum of fuss.
Stefan (Stefan Gota), a Romanian construction worker, is about to return home on holiday and is considering whether or not he will return. He empties his fridge and cooks a big pot of soup with whatever odds and ends are there, and sets off to visit friends, giving out cartons of the soup as goodbye gifts.
Taking a shortcut through a wooded area, he meets ShuXiu (Liyo Gong), a botanist studying mosses and lichens who supports her studies by working in a little restaurant. They part after a hesitant conversation but Stefan is fascinated by both her and her work. Later, caught in a downpour, he finds himself sheltering in – whether by accident or design – the restaurant she works in.
The following day finds him back at ShuXiu’s workplace. As she shows him the wonders of the tiny plant life she is studying they edge, almost imperceptibly, closer to each other.
If this makes it sound like not a lot happens on screen then indeed, on one level, that is correct. But simultaneously there is an undercurrent in which a great deal is happening that could lead to changes in the circumstances of both these people. There is no drama, no great gestures, just a profound sense that the world has taken a step forward for both and there may be the opportunity of love in store.
Played with considerable grace and charm by both leads, the film nudges and whispers to us that there might be a better world to be found out there if only we pay attention to the things that matter. It’s a joy to witness a story so brim full of humanity.
Showing Glasgow Film Theatre 28th November
Jim Welsh
Radio Summerhall Arts 