QUICK AND DIRTY: LIVE FROM TALLINN
Stories of a fighter’s redemption normally come in the ring, however this intense drama from director Jurgis Matulevičius sees a man seeking salvation after the bell has rung.
Marius Repšys stars as Osvald, a former champion kickboxer who is ostracised from his sport and society after injuring a girl in a street fight. He returns to his home town in Lithuania unsure what to do with his life, living in a Taiwanese restaurant owned by the family of his best friend Ju-Long (Jag Huang). He manages to find work with his old trainer, finding some purpose in teaching young fighters. He also meets Skaiste (Severija Janusauskaite), a woman from his anger management group in whom he sees something of himself. However, criminal interest and the burden of his stigma threaten to pull him back into his old ways.
It’s a fascinating story of people who move toward a new life, but find themselves pulled back by past mistakes. Mostly filmed with sparse natural lighting, we are invited into a world where everyone is trying to escape, be it crimes, stereotypes, relationships, or themselves. Throughout the film, good is pushed to the centre of the frame, in moments such as Osvald coaching a teenage student, or adopting a mischievous stray dog.
Conversely, Matulevičius drags us from the darkness. Violence plays out behind obscured windows, with the camera conveying what is happening while not showing it explicitly. A splash of blood, or a scream, feels more sinister when the mind is allowed to fill in the gaps. It’s also an excellent illustration of the characters’ predicament, where bad things lurk behind every doorway.
Repšys could have attempted to mimic Raging Bull (Martin Scorsese, 1981) or numerous other tales of fighters falling on hard times, but pleasingly he chooses to go his own way. In Osvald, he presents someone who is intent on being a better person, but has an innate understanding of what it takes to hurt people, and the rush of battle. Seeing a man who was celebrate for violence now avoiding is like seeing someone try to learn a new language, and it makes for a compelling performance that resists the urge to be showy.
While the focus is mainly on him, Janusauskaite is heartbreaking as Skaiste, a torrent of repressed rage forced to be a trophy for a gangster. There’s something defeated in her eyes that makes her bond with Osvald seem doomed from the start. However, that never stops you rooting for them to make it. Not everything comes together – a subplot about the restaurant falling in with criminals is strangely underdeveloped. However, China Sea is a gritty and bold drama that shows the price of rolling with the punches, and sidesteps the cliché of Rocky-like underdog tales.
China Sea is in the Critics’ Picks section of the 28th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival.
