Lea (1996)
51-year-old Herbert Strehlow, a furniture restorer, falls in love with 21-year-old Lea, who has not spoken a word since childhood when her father killed her mother. She bears a striking resemblance to Herbert's dead wife. They get married, but their relationship seems doomed, until gradually each one manages to penetrate the mysterious world of the other, and they begin to realize that they are bound by a kind of spiritual relationship. For Lea it is the death of her mother, for Herbert it is the death of his first wife. His hard exterior slowly beings to thaw, and he starts to show feelings and responses that soften Lea's initial hatred and fear of him, and which put their relationship in a more positive light.
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This movie is totally deceitful depiction of life in Slovakia in that time, i am shocked czech director could have make something this deformed and mendacious. Shame, shame, shame. Disgusted.
Ivan Fila torments you into an oblivion of thoughts when you first watch Léa. What was avid of torment and nostalgia slowly evolves into meaningful bliss taking place in a reality where the exploration of one's self is a battle that can last a lifetime. In each second of the movie, you hear Léa speak inside her eyes when the colors of her mentality meet the mnemonic eyes of Strehlow. The movie propels you into one's view of the liberation of emotions by the means of artistic release, constantly gripping you into it's excruciation. Are you imprisoned by the past? The movie explores that theme without cynicism and without the actual clichés of current cinematographic creations. Each moment of the film exposes humanity to it's own existential romance in a way which will fascinate the viewer. Léa is a tormenting character, she will take whoever watches into her individuality, and let you share her freedom while being a prisoner of herself and others. A prisoner in whom you do not find speech, but liberation inside other means of expressions. Is love found by the means of words? Another question that elaborates the concept of romance. Lea should be seen, so that you see and feel a story, in which realities collide to form a union that separates the usual cliché from a new meaningful subsistence. The journey that is life, never ceases to continue in Lea: each must learn from hers or his own past to shine into the beauty of existence...
Like life, Lea neither starts nor ends happily. And as in life, it's what happens in between that defines who we are and who we choose to become. Lea the film and Lea the character are mesmerizing from first frame to last.Unblinking in its brutal depiction of despair and the internal struggle for survival, Lea tells the story of two broken people, one who is afraid to talk and one who is afraid to open up, who, brought together through mercenary means, discover a unique method of communication and find in each other healing, hope, and unexpected love. It is a simple film with a simple story, and simply told, it is simply exquisite.
This is a very sad yet strangely intoxicating film. My eyes dried out because I couldn't take my eyes off the screen. You never know whether Lea's story will turn for the better or the worse. She is a very sad soul that you just want to scoop up and take care and hope that Mr.Strehlow will do the same despite his unorthodox methods. Although we have seen Lea's story before, this German-Slovak perspective should not be missed.