Memo from the World
Big Wars and Small Wars: Northern Skirts

by Edie Ellis

[The film was presented as part of the Film Society of Lincoln Center's New Directors/New Films Series.]

Northern Skirts

Directed by: Barbara Alpert, 1999
Austria/Switzerland/Germany, 103 minutes

Big war mirrors small wars, or small wars mirror big war? Set in a drab Austria infused with bits of color from the colorful characters, Northern Skirts has that quality a lot of European films have of seeming old and new, bleak and exhilarating, at the same time.

Edita Malovcic as Tamara in Northern Skirts

Stories of alienation are framed by the seriousness of the Balkan war as well as the war(s) at home. We follow Jasmin, who is Austrian, and Tamara, a Serb living in Austria, from the whisper of childhood dreams of the future, to the harsh reality of young adulthood, to the acceptance of the rollercoaster that adulthood really is. We watch the young women and the men they encounter fumbling to make the all-important connections with each other. Some of these characters have left the Balkans in search of greener grass. They have substituted one hostile environment for another. Close proximity, vast cultural difference, can't we all just get along?

The confusion of sex /war/ life / death decisions is captured with a sense of urgency. Nobody wants to be where they are. And yet, this is where they have to be. It's like we're all outsiders until we make the mistakes of growing up (and keep making them), no matter how many movies or books tell us exactly what will happen. And we are reminded of the power of the influence of those old movies where "happy ever after" is not questioned.

I liked it.

About the Author:

Edie Ellis is a singer, photographer and movie fan who did not complete her film studies at the College of Santa Fe.

Resources:

Information about this and other film festivals at Lincoln Center is available at: http://www.filmlinc.com/ndnf/ndnf.htm Some of the films featured in the festival will be released in the United States and worldwide. Check local listings.