Erupcja offers a transcendent experience in its scant 71-minute run time. What at first seems like a more dramatic version of a “hangout film” (akin to films such as Superbad or Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist) evolves into something deeper, a meditation on relationships and the way fate intervenes to alter their course.
Director Pete Ohs’ influences are obvious from the first moments of the film, most notably Czech director Věra Chytilová and her film Daisies. Both films use color and music as a reflection of the characters’ ever- changing moods. Erupcja takes it up a notch, transitioning scenes with kaleidoscopic hues and pulsating electronica beats (courtesy of composer Charles Watson and Florence and the Machine’s Isabella Summers).
Erupcja takes place over a week in Warsaw, Poland as Americans Rob (Will Madden) and his free-spirited girlfriend Bethany (Charli XCX), who are on a romantic vacation, get stranded there due to an erupting volcano. Rob secretly plans on proposing to Bethany and decides to do it while they’re in Warsaw. When Bethany discovers the ring Rob plans on giving her, she takes off, reuniting with her old friend Nel (Lena Góra) and the two go on a multi-day binge of parties, coffee shops, museums and concerts, all while Rob wonders why she’s avoiding him. Does Bethany have cold feet or did she never really love him?
Charli XCX’s Bethany is a walking tornado, she’s full of boundless energy and you wonder how she and Rob ever got together. Rob’s so drab and listless that he makes Milton from Office Space look like James Bond. Thankfully, the bulk of the movie focuses on Bethany and Nel. Their orgy of drinking, music, arguing, making up then arguing again is incredibly fun and I could have watched them frolic across Warsaw for hours.
Several of their moments together reminded me of that sequence from The Beatles’ film A Hard Day’s Night, where John, Paul, George and Ringo escaped the confinement of their hotel and hit a local club. As George and Ringo dance with abandon, Paul and John casually talk with some ladies at a nearby table over drinks and cigarettes. It was one of those scenes where you just feel cool watching it, as if you’re there with them enjoying the music, deep conversation, laughter and potential of what the night will bring.
That’s how it felt watching Bethany and Nel. I couldn’t wait to see where they headed next. The two women play off each other perfectly, with Bethany’s manic energy tempered by Nel’s zen-like vibe. Though Nel loves being with Bethany, you feel that Bethany is a guilty pleasure for her, something she returns to when she’s at her weakest point, like a recovering alcoholic succumbing to a shot of whiskey after a year of sobriety.
The film takes a fascinating turn in the final act that’s a wonderfully meditative counterpoint to the frenzy of the earlier acts, like waking from a crazy night of partying to a lovely morning where not even the throbbing headache of a hangover can ruin how sublime it is.
Speaking of peaceful and lovely, Pete Ohs’ cinematography is impeccable, making Warsaw look beautiful, day or night. Some of the shots towards the end of the film, taking place in a park as early morning sunlight penetrates through wafts of fog, are especially breathtaking.
I’d love to see more films like this, that steamroll with that same fierce energy of Czech and French New Wave works of the 1960’s and 1970’s.
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