Feature film
Ples v dežju
Boštjan Hladnik · 1961
Synopsis
Peter, a painter, dreams of perfect beauty and an ideal companion. For seven years he has been in a relationship with Maruša, a stage actress who mourns her lost youth and would like to share everything with him; they spend most of their time in a café. The bond wears thin, uncertainty sets in, and a luminous window opening onto the future seems to recede each time it is seen again. Outside, a young couple dances in the rain.
Context
The film is drawn from a novel by Dominik Smole, and the screenplay is attributed to Smole or to Hladnik depending on the sources. The cinematography is by Janez Kališnik, the music by Bojan Adamič; Duša Počkaj and Miha Baloh play the two roles. It is regarded as the first Slovenian film noir. Presented in competition at Pula in 1961, it has since been shown again in Montpellier, in Los Angeles and, in 2023, at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Who it is for
A little over an hour and a half, in black and white, of an intimate drama without action; English subtitles exist.
Prizes and reception
Chosen best Slovenian film by critics in 2005, for the centenary of national cinema; at Pula, prize for direction and the Golden Arena for Duša Počkaj.