“Paris has just so much expectation to be romantic, it just isn’t romantic anymore,” Bethany (Charli XCX) can be heard saying to her boyfriend Rob (Will Madden) in “Erupcja,” justifying their trip to Warsaw, Poland rather than the City of Lights, though picking a city where the buildings that have as much concrete in them as the sidewalks should be an indication that she’s not really looking for love. That’s not to say there isn’t plenty of it in the latest from Pete Ohs, though the amour is largely saved for reviving the style of the country’s cinema in the immediate wake of the French New Wave spreading across Europe, with each country it touched inspired to experiment with the form in ways particular to the culture. The director behind “The Beauty of Bitten By a Tick” and “Jethica” beautifully honors an aesthetic tradition with colorful still frames injected to convey mood and an omniscient narrator to speak to the aspirations and frustrations of Bethany and Rob as the latter’s plans for the perfect proposal go horribly awry, but does so narratively as well in summoning a kind of wanderlust for its young characters who may feel stuck in Poland, but becomes a charming excursion for audiences abroad.
One can only hope that the true star turn of Charli XCX in her first major acting role might lead a few of her followers on Letterboxd to seek out a few of the influences on “Erupcja,” but Ohs offers a potent gateway drug as the simplicity of the old techniques proves refreshing, showing ingenuity from the film’s first frames where Bethany is introduced dragging her suitcase across cobblestone with the same rumble one might expect from the nearby volcano Mount Etna. She isn’t as combustible as one might expect from that entrance, but rather someone seeking out such explosions in her life, which has led her to Warsaw many times before where sparks fly with Nel (Lena Gora), who she first met on a class trip as a teen and periodically visits to take drugs and dance into the wee hours of the night. Nel can’t return the favor by traveling to Bethany’s home in London when she’s obligated to continue running the flower shop her father bestowed to her, but she can’t help but think about giving it up when her current relationship seems as if it’s at a standstill and an unexpected knock on the door from her British friend sends her mind reeling.
Seeing Bethany from the balcony of her apartment, Nel dryly jokes “This is not Romeo and Juliet,” and Ohs finds tension in the mixed signals that Bethany has given to both Nel and Rob when she may be in love with the idea of them more than the reality as she only sees the former in limited bursts on foreign soil and the latter seems like the steady presence she needs, but disappoints as the kind of guy that announces surprises in advance. Although the relatively reserved Bethany couldn’t be further from the brash persona Charli XCX has cultivated as a musician, the mischievous spirit remains in her performance and proves just as magnetic as the character toys with the emotions of those closest to her. As is often the case with Ohs’ productions, virtually everyone in the cast has a screenwriting credit, but while the film may have been somewhat improvised, its casualness is never lackadaisical as its central trio all end up having to reconsider where they are in their lives and who they’re with. The most important commitment that ends up being made in the film is to a particular playful tone that “Erupcja” gets just right, capturing a moment that may be slight but certainly significant.
“Erupcja” will screen again at the Toronto Film Festival at the Scotiabank on September 5th at 9:40 pm and September 14th at 12:10 pm.