MAGNETIC FIELDS

Often the most beautiful and authentic stories are those that are told with narrative and formal simplicity. In the case of Magnetic Fields, nothing is simpler than the "drama" suggested here: a woman meets a man and the two embark on a journey together. Eleni, a slender professional dancer who wants to resume her career and distance herself from an oppressive family life, takes a "man with the eyes of a child" in her car - the heavy-set, thick-bearded Antonis, who wants to bury a box containing his aunt's ashes. Driven by a mutual attraction, they make their way through the rocky terrain of the Greek island of Kefalonia in a road trip odyssey of (self-)discovery.

Made on a shoestring budget and with a semi-improvised script, Yorgos Goussis' feature debut is a rare example of "cinematic craft", where his background in graphic novels reveals itself in a unique vision of narrative control. The decision to shoot on MiniDV gives the film a rich color spectrum with washed-out contrasts, where the grainy pixels of visual intimacy are replaced by a loving intimacy of sound that brings us close to the unraveling relationship of the two.

Magnetic Fields, marked by genuine charm, humor and painterly expression, is a melancholy ode to human connection and proof that life unfolds in all its "creativity" when one impulsively wanders off the beaten path. Andrei Tănăsescu