Summertime, a meadow covered with flowers. Wrapped in the rustle of
birds and crickets, an old woman tells us about her life. Her happy childhood,
her career on stage, moments of sadness or heartfelt joy. Such is the
common, exceptional fate of Stefka Drolc. Her dear friend, Ivanka Mezan,
joins her next to a tree under which the two legendary actresses of the
Slovenian stage settle for a picnic that stretches along the thread of their
infinitely sweet talk. With this 2011 FIDLab project, Vlado Skafar lives up to
his reputation as a lone knight. He doesn’t shy away from symbolism, using
elegant pan shots to linger on a page being turned, a dried flower in the
middle of a book, the wrinkles on a face leaning against the rough bark of a
tree — as if to putt off impending death. Like a vanitas painting? Certainly
not, since the film is bursting with life. It prevails in the stories, in the sunbathed
frames, in the love these women share, and in the nature that
surrounds them, to such an extent that they end up melting into it. Time is
their common material. The depth that Skafar creates with slow fade-outs
is the very depth of existence itself, to which speech is trying to hold on. This,
the film captures miraculously. The pastoral setting finally reveals its true
nature as a stage for the actresses to play their biggest part. (CG)