by Kate Erbland | Indie Wire
2019 was a banner year for rising star Luàna Bajrami: the Kosovo-born French actress and filmmaker was lauded for her scene-stealing turn as a young maid in Céline Sciamma’s luminous “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” was nominated for Most Promising Actress at the César Awards, and wrapped production on her directorial debut, the intimate coming-of-age drama “The Hill Where Lionesses Roar” — all by the time she was 18. Not too shabby.
Neither is “Lionesses,” which will likely inspire comparisons to everything from Deniz Gamze Ergüven’s “Mustang” (a country setting, an indifferent society, young women desperate to break free) to Sofia Coppola’s “The Virgin Suicides” (deep ennui, an unsettling tremor of what’s to come, a real sense of how to film the bonds between women), all of which hints at a big career to come for Bajrami, on whichever side of the camera she chooses. Any first-time filmmaking tics are largely forgivable: Bajrami, who also wrote the script, tends to both obscure major events and bolster moments that needed more development. For better and worse, the most pleasurable moments in “Lionesses” are the unexpected ones.
Filmed in Bajrami’s native Kosovo and shot in the Albanian language (English subtitles were provided for the Cannes premiere, and they’re impeccable), “The Hill Where the Lionesses Roar” follows a trio of young friends — outgoing Li (Era Balaj), reserved Jeta (Urate Shabani), and apparent leader Qe (a breakout Flaka Latifi) — as they laze their way through a final teenage summer. The girls aren’t willing their time away before heading out into the world; they’re stuck in an unforgiving in-between with little to look forward to beyond adulthood in their small, slightly backward country town. They all harbor unlikely dreams of going to university and they understandably rebuff their elders’ indication of what might come next. None of that appeals. None of that suits them. All they want is to be free.
It’s a bedrock emotion for any coming-of-age film. Bajrami is clearly compelled by her embattled home, but it’s incredibly relatable and makes for a unique backdrop for an age-old story. Li, Jeta, and Qe spend their time hanging out, talking shit, getting drunk, dancing, meeting boys, and worrying about what’s coming next. Li snags a cute boyfriend in Zem (Andi Bajgora), while Qe has a light flirtation with the flighty French visitor Lena (Bajrami herself in a small role). Familial secrets are revealed, including the tragedy of Jeta’s home life, complete with dead parents and a lecherous uncle, and Qe’s own fraught family, only brightened by her beloved little sister.
There’s also something else going on just under the surface, and the early appearance of a squirreled-away sock full of cash hints that the girls are up to something more than lolling around on the cement outcropping that serves as their “hill.” Bajrami’s script offers little in the way of explanation, and “Lionesses” picks up long after the trio has begun dabbling in criminal activities to fund their desire to leave. Or, really, their desire to just do something.
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