This is such an unusual voice in film. I have seen a number of movies about Eastern Europeans infiltrating countries in the European Union in the hopes of gaining citizenship--"Spare Parts" (2003) being the best one. They are very grim, depicting dehumanizing conditions, rape, and depravity. Not so with this movie. One review I read called the movie 'glacial'--some people encounter the frozen surface and bounce off of it, and others look at their reflection in it and learn something. I really like the imagery of that, because Lorna's silence is a reflection of her moral response--she wasn't able to bounce off.
Lorna and Sokol are Albanians who dream of leaving behind the economic dreariness of their homeland and having their own snack bar in a more prosperous country. They get involved with underground elements aimed at obtaining citizenship by shady means.
Lorna marries Claudy, a Belgian junkie, who agrees to the marriage for money, and maintaining his habit. The original plan is for a divorce once Lorna has Belgian citizenship, but Fabio, her contact, is impatient because he has a Russian for Lorna to marry for a similar deal. He thinks that a drug overdose would be less suspicious, and lets Lorna know that is the plan after she helps Claudy get into drug rehab. What is she doing? She pleads for Claudy, says that she will apply for a quick divorce and that will be soon--Fabio has no patience, and Claudy overdoses.
At that point Lorna is going to be financially able to reach her dream, but she struggles with what she has to do from a moral point of view. Sokol is no help--they have both been changed by their different paths to realizing their dreams--he is doing high risk physical work and she is doing high risk emotional work. The film is very thought-provoking, and well acted.
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