Exfrun (2017)

	Also Known As: Die Ex-Frau, Ex-woman
	Year of first release: 2017
	Director: Katja Wik
	Actors: Ellen Olaison, Maria Sundbom, Nina Zanjani
	Country: S
	Genre: Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 03.11.2017, CineStar5, NFDL2017, Swedish version with English subtitle
Synopsis: Anna (Zanjani), Vera (Sundbom) and a friend (Olaison) are at different stages of life. Taken together, the film’s three narrative threads paint a picture of a relationship in all its phases, from the beginning to the end. The beginning, only seemingly a walk in the park. The stress and tests that beleaguer the life of a couple with small children. And the demoralisation at the end, when you’ve cut off the dead wood, but the scar still itches.
Review: Common life is supposed to be boring. Exfrun shows that also in common scenes of human life there is tension, dramaturgy and passion. The three roles are observed precisely. They all seem to be enloved and feel deception as well as live or remember joyful moments. All this seem as real as what I hear from my friends for years! During the Q&A after the movie, the director Katja Wik confirmed that it has been over ten years of behaviour study before writing this story about a type of common women. Therefore it depicts normal life and normal emotions. The scenes are very sensitive and touching. The acting is also very realistic compared to my environment. Of course, in any partnership both can behave better or worse than in Exfrun. But I like the balance in Exfrun.Thanks to the experience of casting, Katja Wik succeeded in finding three actresses with talent and matching their roles with freedom and emotion. The camera frames the women. Men are out of scope of the camera and women are in the middle of the screen without arty tunnel effects but with the clean composition. This gives sometimes a strange feeling to miss something from the scene. But it allows and forces also to focus, to see the women roles. And this is great! This gives a lot of room to the three main actresses and this works well. They are all greatly human in their roles. To me this brings the common life to its right rank.  In the Q&A after the movie, Katja Wik expressed how close she is from the characters of her movie. She shows a lot of sensitiveness and emotion. And I like this in a person! She is a talent to follow.
Rating: 8 /10