The Sky The Plane The Girl

Lara, an air stewardess, finds herself stranded in an airport one night. In the bar, she meets Georgi, a TV reporter, and they begin an on-off relationship. But how long can this continue, and will either realise their true feelings for each other?

The Sky, The Plane, The Girl is a quirky film. Writer/producer/star Renata Litvonia and director Vera Storozheva have crafted a slight tale in a style very reminiscent of the French New Wave from the source play, 104 Pages on Love by Edward Radzinsky.

Shots are carefully chosen: a close up on a girls shoes, the back of her head, as she walks along a deserted corridor; the two leads, side by side behind a table smoking; overexposed scenes of them in his flat. But, and this is both the films briliance and its fatal flaw, nothing much happens to connect these scenes.

Reminscent of Eric Rohmer at his worst, the film ambles along in unconnected segments towards an ending which is already inevitable 15 minutes in.

This shouldn't detract from the performances: good turns from the minimal supporting cast especially Lara's fellow stewardess Mouse (Inga Strelkova-Oboldina) and a caricature of a barman who provides some welcome comic relief; and sparing acting from the leads. In particular, Litvonia, as the flighty girl of the title, does a very good impression of a startled bird.

The problem with this approach is that it means we never get close to the characters (Georgi is just too dull for us to care) and therefore in a film where nothing happens we end up being very, very bored. Good filmmaking ruined by a (nouvelle) vague script.