Vilnius review: Sujip (2024)
Kino Pavasaris
National Short Film Competition
When he arrives at his new job post, Aleksandras (Kestutis Cicenas) looks relaxed. Since there is not much to do, he is warming up – literally – by exercising on still rings before exploring the space in search of something that might help kill the time. At the beginning of Gintare Parulyte‘s short drama Sujip, we have no idea what the nature of the young man’s job is and why nothing is happening. “Where do I sign up`?” might be your first thought. But the calmness and the relaxed atmosphere that allows Aleksandras to help his colleague (Viktorija Kuodyte) with the crosswords or sort out his M&Ms according to their colour is interrupted by a phone call, which brings him out of balance. His fear is physical, and the reaction is spontaneous. Instead of taking the call, he hangs up.
This small yet poignant act introduces the main character’s mental state and the job he has just entered. By jumping over his own shadow, Aleksandras lets us into his world through the voice on the other side of the receiver who plays with his emotions like a puppet master. Not only does the story change its course with that phone call, but also how the camera is handled by the cinematographer Nojus Drasutis, who captures the events, switching from wide shots to close-ups. We are so close to the man’s face that we can read the discomfort in the smallest movements of his muscles, the batting of eyelashes and nervous ticks almost immediately.
The process is reversed to re-establish the balance. We return to Aleksandras in his Soviet-style workspace, clad in wooden panelling and very spartan furniture that could belong to a run-down business or some criminal organisation whose money is invested elsewhere. Except that now we know better, thanks to the invisible man with an ice-cold voice who found his victim from the past to torment him again emotionally.
Gintare Parulyte’s sinister script exposes the vulnerability of people who went through great trauma even many decades after. It also cements the Latin proverb Vulpes pilum mutat, non mores (“the fox changes his fur, not his habits”). You can forget the past, but at some point, it will return to haunt you. Although Sujip can be called a solid drama with a finely tuned runtime and excellent performance by Kestutis Cicenas, who carries the film, there is a sense of déjà vu.
The film screened in The National Short Competition of Kino Pavasaris, in Vilnius.
Original Title: Sujip
Production Country: Lithuania, Luxembourg
Language: Lithuanian
Year: 2024
Runtime: 23′
Written| Directed by: Gintare Parulyte
Cinematography: Nojus Drasutis
Editing: Pia Dumont
Music: Carl Arvid Lehne
Production Company: Greta Garbo Films
Producer: Greta Akcijonaite
Co-Producers: Vincent Quenault, Jeanne Geiben, Courtney B Ropp, Elisa Fernanda Pirir
Cast: Kestutis Cicenas, Simonas Storpirstis, Viktorija Kuodyte
