Lara, a German drama film

“I watched Lara, a German drama film from 2019,” I said.

“Oh really?” asked Andi. “No Yugo-nostalgia this time?”

And it’s true; I talk about movies and books from the Yugoslav era a bit too often.

“No,” I said. “And it was one of the best films I’ve ever watched.”

“Oh, come on!” exclaimed Andi.

“It is,” I said. “I’ve actually watched it twice.”

“Oh, come on!” exclaimed Andi again. “What’s so great about it?”

“Well, I was thinking about it. I am still surprised it touched me so much. I’m not totally sure why. It’s about Lara and her 60th birthday. It’s about her relationships with her son, mother, ex-husband, neighbor, and ex-coworkers. Each relationship is a story in itself, displayed through little details and wonderful dialogue. The script is amazing. It so masterfully reveals Lara’s life piece by piece.”

“It’s a movie where nothing happens, I’m sure,” said Janez. “You like those kinds of movies.”

“My wife said it touched me so deeply because one of the central questions in the movie is about being talented. Supposedly, it’s because I wish to be talented. But actually, I think she’s right. The movie touched me deeply for that reason too. But it’s much more than that. There are little scenes, like an empty space on the wall where a piano should be. It’s not there now, but it was years ago, and it was the central point of Lara’s life. Or the scene where Lara’s former co-worker from the civil service talks about how passionate she was about her job, and Lara just smirks. Passionate about her office job? All she was passionate about was the piano, but none of her coworkers knew that. Nobody knew her past.”

“Why did your wife marry you if she thinks you are not talented?” asked Andi.

“Oh, stop it,” said Edvard.

“Not only talented people marry,” I said. “But if we’re talking about music, and the movie is about music, I’m pretty extraordinary in a sense. I’m so devoid of any musical talent that I can’t help but stare in awe at people who are musically gifted. One of the scenes that I found truly powerful, and I know this is very subjective, is the one where Lara glances at the musical composition by her son. She looks at the notes for just a couple of seconds, and then she’s able to comment on it in detail.”

“Are there some good babes?” asked Andi.

“Oh, stop it,” said Jasmina. “Stop pretending you’re such a jerk.”

“No, he really is,” said Norton.

“And there is the scene with Lara’s former piano professor. I won’t say what happens, as I don’t want to spoil it for you, but it’s heartbreaking when, close to the end of the film—actually much too close to the end of Lara’s life—he matter-of-factly gives an assessment of her talent.”

“Oh, you won’t spoil it,” said Janez. “Nobody is going to watch a movie where nothing happens.”

“Especially not a fachidiot like you,” said Andi.

“Come on,” said Jasmina to Janez, her fachidiot husband. “It’s definitely not a movie where nothing happens. I trust him; he usually watches good films.”

“Yeah, not that he knows what a good movie is,” said Andi. “I think he’s just choosing them from some list of alternative films that have won obscure awards nobody has ever heard of.”

“Yeah, like Karlovy Vary Festival, asshole,” I said.

“It even got an award at the Ljubljana International Film Festival,” said Andi. “A special mention for the script, which was, incidentally, written by a Slovenian guy, Blaž Kutin.”

“Oh, you asshole,” I exclaimed. “You watched it!”

“Of course, there’s rarely a film at the Ljubljana International Film Festival that he doesn’t see,” said Edvard.

“So what do you think of the film?” I asked Andi.

“I think Corinna Harfouch as Lara is fucking amazing. No matter what she does, I fucking loved and felt sorry for her.”

“Felt sorry?” asked Edvard.

“Yes,” said Andi.

“You’re not capable of feeling sorry,” said Norton.

“He is, for himself,” said Edvard.

“Not true,” said Jasmina. “Andi has many flaws, but he certainly doesn’t feel sorry for himself.”

“Oh, thank you, madame!” exclaimed Andi.

“What else?” I asked. “What else do you think, Andi?”

“Oh, I liked the very last scene of the film!” said Andi.

“We agree on that one!” I exclaimed. “Lara’s sigh in the last scene—oh my! The whole film flashed through my mind again when I saw that sigh. You could see Lara’s entire life in that one moment!”

“Yeah, I know,” said Janez. “That’s all that happens—some facial expressions!”

“Oh, you fucking idiot,” said Andi.