Home / Arts and Entertainment / War and Divorce: A Couple's Double Crisis
War and Divorce: A Couple's Double Crisis
20 Aug
Summary
- A Lithuanian drama explores marital breakdown during a foreign invasion.
- The film contrasts domestic struggles with geopolitical turmoil.
- Characters navigate personal crises amidst societal upheaval.
The Lithuanian drama "How to Divorce During the War" opens with a seemingly mundane domestic scene: a man assembling a new desk chair. This quiet moment is shattered within days as his wife divorces him, coinciding with Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The writer-director Andrius Blazevicius's film examines the couple's reactions to these tumultuous events.
Vytas, the husband, receives the divorce news and the invasion news in quick succession. As a lapsed filmmaker, he regains his creative drive, writing scripts and participating in war protests in Vilnius. Meanwhile, his wife, Marija, a media producer, deals with the personal and professional ramifications, including hosting and later resenting Ukrainian refugees.
The film uses static, nonjudgmental camera framing to observe the characters' choices, such as Vytas visiting a prostitute then volunteering at a food bank. Deadpan comedy arises, particularly when Vytas interacts with his nostalgic Russophile parents. Their sharp but young daughter, Dovile, absorbs her parents' tumultuous lives. The story leans towards Vytas's comeback, while highlighting a human tendency to regress to familiar routines during crisis.
