Directed by Mira Fornay. Starring Reka Derzsi, Rita Banczi, Aaron Monaghan, Jonathan Byrne 16 cert, Light House, Dublin, 86 min
WHATEVER ELSE you might say about new Irish cinema, you can't claim it has ignored the immigrant experience. Once, Adam & Paul, The Front Line, Happy Ever Afters, Ondine:it seems as if virtually every domestic film includes at least one character from the new communities.
These films have, however, tended to view those personalities from a discreet distance. Now, with Mira Fornay's Foxes, we get a dramatic feature that actually engages fully with the thrills and stresses of a particular immigrant group. Fornay, a young Slovakian, has delivered an earthy, energetic, busy piece of work. Foxesis also disorganised and, at times, unnecessarily hard to follow. But it's an honest film by a director with a distinctive voice.
Foxeshangs around the volatile relationship between two sisters. Alzbeta (Reka Derzsi), an au pair recently arrived in Dublin from Slovakia, is an altogether more edgy personality than Tina (Rita Banczi). The latter has acquired an Irish fiancé and is beginning to develop friends and connections in the wider community.
Following a particularly mighty clash of siblings, Alzbeta is propelled into colourful, occasionally Bohemian corners of the Dublin underground. She meets losers, abusers and exploiters. Aware that she cannot return to Slovakia (the family’s home is being knocked down to make way for a motorway), this surly, somewhat unlikable wanderer makes various attempts to secure a foothold in the city.
Every now and then, in between fights, binges and smooches, we spy urban foxes lurking in the shadows. The overly explicit nature of that metaphor – like the immigrants, the animals exist largely unobserved by the greater populace – characterises a film that, although shot with great flair, too often reveals signs of immaturity.
The nastier, more disaffected young people seem almost sociopathic in their snappiness. The brief shot of a punk band feels self-indulgent. With his E-Type Jag and cool jazz, the slick operator who eventually charms Alzbeta comes across like a refugee from the early 1960s.
Nonetheless, this is a very promising piece of work: funky, textured, confident. Keep your eye on Ms Fornay.
