Film Reviews

Fugitive Pieces

• Rating:
• Director:
• Starring: Stephen Dillane
• Details: Canada/Greece / 104mins (15A).

Writers writing about writers writing can often be accused of self-indulgence, but the beauty of Fugitive Pieces, and most of that comes down to Gregory Middleton's stunning cinematography, keeps the pretentiousness at bay. Mostly.
Ten-year-old Jakob (Kay) is hidden by his Polish parents when the Nazis invade their home during WWII. From his hiding place Jakob watches helplessly as his parents are shot and his beloved sister, Bella (Nina Dobrev), is dragged away to an uncertain fate. Jakob runs and is taken in by the kindly Greek archaeologist Athos (Serbedzija), who smuggles him home to Greece where they see out the rest of the war. In Athos's charge, Jakob exhibits a talent for writing and, when he grows up and moves to Canada (and where Stephen Dillane takes over from Kay), becomes a fully-fledged writer.
However, haunted by dreams of his sister, the guilt of leaving her behind and his inability to articulate his childhood trauma has a detrimental effect on his marriage to Alex (Pike).
Fugitive Pieces can be laboured, heavy-handed, dull and extremely slow, yet there is an inherent beauty that's hard to ignore. Yes, those Greek scenes are breathtaking (it is Greece after all) and Middleton displays a Gordon Willis (The Godfather) gift of softly lighting the darkness - but beauty also comes in the form of its language, too. Adapted from Anne Michaels's literary novel, there's a poetic style to the dialogue and this influences the dream-like direction of Podeswa, which is where Fugitive Pieces will draw fans and detractors. The 'plot' wanders about the place with little dramatic momentum, but this mirrors Jakob's persona, a man who feels he shouldn't be here and doesn't deserve to be, either. The performances from Pike, Dillane and Serbedzija all deserve praise, but it's young Robbie Kay that warrants extra admiration. It's an almost mute role and Kay is forced to convey Jakob's feelings with only his saucer-like eyes. That's not easy for one so young, but Kay pulls it off and is definitely one to watch in the future.

Review by Gavin Burke