Between 2 Fires

Between 2 Fires is Agnieszka Lukasiak’s first attempt at narrative filmmaking, after directing two documentaries and, without having seen either of those, one would hope she has a more fluent command of the specifics of documentary filmmaking than showcased here.

The film tells the story of Marta, who escapes the horrors of prostitution and child-trafficking in Belarus for the equally grim surroundings of a Swedish refugee camp. There’s clearly a worthy story in there somewhere; Ulrich Seidl’s 2007 film Import/Export worked from a similar basis to produce something truly astounding. Not every film will reach those heights, obviously, but Between 2 Fires (it should have been obvious from the title, really) constantly crucifies what could have been such an interesting and engaging tale.

Complete with sketchy tracking shots, bawdy crash zooms and schizophrenic jump cuts, it’s as if the filmmakers have decided to utilise every naff camera trick taught at film school even when it so obviously jars with the intended tone of the film. We are even treated to a journey montage, accompanied by helicopter aerials and a typically swelling musical number. It is that clichéd and muddled.

It’s not all terrible, however. As mentioned previously, there is a perfectly engaging story trying to escape from underneath the director’s ham-sized fist, and the lead performances are certainly credible enough. Unfortunately, that’s about it on the positive side.

The film lurches wildly from one set of clichés to another, never resting on one long enough to at least become comfortable. There is ‘dodgy man in the shadows who smokes a lot and stares at people’, and tingling thriller music accompanies his shadowy smoking and staring. Of course, he’s not as bad as he appears, but then again, is he? The plot becomes so convoluted and predictable that I found myself nodding off. I then realised that only 30 minutes had passed and there were still another 100 to go. Yes, it is THAT long.

Marta soon comes to the grim realisation that her only hope for some kind of settled peace is if she marries aged Swedish pervert Bengt, becoming some kind of sex object. The fact that she seems to be able to leave the refugee camp at will to visit Bengt and her friend from the old country never appears to register with her. Why doesn’t she just leave and attempt to find a better life elsewhere? Or have a go at living illegally under the radar in Sweden? Not easy choices, obviously, which is probably why they’re never confronted. Just one of the many baffling things to emerge from an unfortunately confused film.