Directed by: Anna Kazejak
Starring: Agnieszka Grochowska, Maciej Stuhr, Jaśmina Polak, Grzegorz Damięcki
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Who is better placed than a forty-something director to make a movie about the dawn of midlife crisis? Anna Kazejak seized the opportunity with Fucking Bornholm, a bitter comedy with a big sting in the tail. Woe betide anyone questioning the sacredness of majówka, the traditional May holiday weekend in Poland! Unfavorable spring weather can get in the way and ruin plans, or alternatively, save from disgrace. All things considered, the protagonists in Kazejak’s film should have better forfeited their May break on the island of Bornholm in Denmark, for their peace of mind.
A thorny incident between the holidaymakers’ children opens up a Pandora box. Hubert (Maciej Stuhr) and Dawid (Grzegorz Damięcki) improvise a ludicrous Inquisition-like tribunal for minors on sand dunes. Psychologist Nina (Jaśmina Polak) the youngest adult in the group, dragged in this hell of a vacation by Dawid, is reluctant to be on duty on a holiday and help the frustrated pack a fortysomethings to cope with their crisis.
Agnieszka Grochowska in the role of Hubert’s wife, is the thesp that really stands out in the cast of Fucking Bornholm. Aptly named Maja in the story, she is the ”sad queen” of a majówka to be forgotten. The anxiety and worries of Maja, a good mother precisely because she is haunted by continuous doubts about being a good one, could be cut with a knife through the film. Grochowska’s performance adds to Kazejak’s dramedy remarkable thickness. Eventually, the characters drink away their gloom, go back to feel fragile and truthful with themselves far from home.
In another vein, the script of Fucking Bornholm delivers a ironic commentary on the concept of hygge, the Danish way to cosiness and togetherness, that a lot of people have heard about abroad, but only few master. The characters find themselves constantly trapped in uncomfortable situations. No amount of candles, hot chocolate or any other tips could be of help to them. Nonetheless, Kazejak finally allows a glimmer of light in the story. Hygge is better left to Scandinavians, but it appears that adults in their forties are still on time to change the course of their lives, at least in some cases.
Film Reviewed by Giuseppe Sedia
Published by Kino Mania on June 24, 2022