This is an enjoyable two-hander set in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius (which is not the most obvious setting for a romance between a Frenchwoman and a Finn until you realise the film has Lithuanian money behind it).
Caroline (Marie-Josée Croze), a French architect, is on her last night of a business trip. Having problems with her long-term partner back in France, she ends up in the bed of Finnish DJ Jaakko (Mikko Nousiainen, best-known internationally for bonkfest 'Levottomat'). It should just have been a one-night stand before Caroline took the morning flight home, but when one of those pesky Icelandic volcanoes puffs another cloud of ash into the air, all flights are grounded and the pair are thrown together for longer.
Fans of Richard Linklater's tremendously romantic 'Before Sunrise', in which Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke wander the streets of night-time Vienna whilst talking about everything under the sun, will find a lot that is similar here (although it's daytime and Vilnius). Sharing their hopes and dreams, our two protagonists discover enough about each other that by the end of the film they are clearly considering a longer-term relationship. Strangely, I did not want this to happen: a parting of the ways would have been more romantic, I thought. Croze and Nousiainen are likable and competent leads: I had to smile, though, when Nousiainen describes Croze as being an older woman; of the two actors, he definitely looks the older. Perhaps lose the beard, mate...?
Caroline (Marie-Josée Croze), a French architect, is on her last night of a business trip. Having problems with her long-term partner back in France, she ends up in the bed of Finnish DJ Jaakko (Mikko Nousiainen, best-known internationally for bonkfest 'Levottomat'). It should just have been a one-night stand before Caroline took the morning flight home, but when one of those pesky Icelandic volcanoes puffs another cloud of ash into the air, all flights are grounded and the pair are thrown together for longer.
Fans of Richard Linklater's tremendously romantic 'Before Sunrise', in which Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke wander the streets of night-time Vienna whilst talking about everything under the sun, will find a lot that is similar here (although it's daytime and Vilnius). Sharing their hopes and dreams, our two protagonists discover enough about each other that by the end of the film they are clearly considering a longer-term relationship. Strangely, I did not want this to happen: a parting of the ways would have been more romantic, I thought. Croze and Nousiainen are likable and competent leads: I had to smile, though, when Nousiainen describes Croze as being an older woman; of the two actors, he definitely looks the older. Perhaps lose the beard, mate...?