The problem with “The Marriage,” a well-meaning but structurally lopsided first feature from Yugoslavian director Blerta Zeqiri, is that the marriage plot from the title is so much less interesting than the love plot at its core.
This is a film that takes place in a cold, snowy climate, and the main male character, Bekim (Alban Ukaj), and his fiancée, Anita (Adriana Matoshi), are bundled up in the first scene as they wait outside a center for missing persons. (Anita’s parents have been missing for over 15 years.) When Bekim and Anita enter the center, we see people placing long-stemmed flowers down on numbered segments that carry the found bones of their loved ones.
The Kosovo War of the late 1990s hangs over this narrative, because any story set in Yugoslavia has to deal with it in some way. But the character of Anita in “The Marriage” does not seem affected in any way by the trauma of that war or the loss of her parents. She is somewhat bland and superficial and an easy laugher, and we spend an inordinate amount of time with her as she picks out her wedding dress.
We also spend a long time with Anita as she hangs out with Bekim and his old friend Nol (Genc Salihu) at the bar that Bekim runs. Nol went to live in Paris and he has become a musician of some renown. He keeps hinting that he is in love and that it is a “Romeo and Juliet” sort of situation. “Is Juliet a Serb?” Anita asks, in her slightly ditzy way. She tells a long joke about a copulating couple that either loses something in the subtitle translation or is supposed to be aimless and bad.
This scene in the bar is very flat, as is a flashback scene where we see Anita hanging out with her female friends and meeting Bekim for the first time. (Apparently all of her former boyfriends have been “jug-eared” and so her girlfriends think that Bekim is just right for her.) Bekim and Anita arm wrestle on this first meeting, which is not generally the sort of thing men do with women they are attracted to. But Anita remains eternally clueless here.
Back in the present, Bekim turns down two guys who want to throw a party at his bar for “the LGBT community,” and Ukaj makes certain that we see how much of Bekim’s anger is based on repression and a feeling of helplessness.
Up until this point, Anita has been an innocuous character, but she edges her way into very unsympathetic territory when she sends Bekim a text message of a pregnancy test that she downloaded from the Internet just to scare him.
“The Marriage” suddenly comes to life in the present-day scene where Bekim makes love to Nol after Nol is gay-bashed. (The thugs who beat Nol up say they must “exterminate” him, and they talk about Hitler.) When Bekim takes Nol home from the police station after this assault, they immediately have to go to bed together. The beautiful thing here is that Nol has to be treated very gently at first because of the wounds on his back, but once they get going it seems as if the physical damage Nol has suffered disappears for him because he loves having sex with Bekim so much.
There is a super-charged flashback to when Bekim and Nol first knew each other during the war, when Nol was a tenant in a house run by Bekim’s mother. We see them singing “They Can’t Take That Away from Me” together, and Bekim is like a totally different person here: wearing an ornate red shirt, happy and relaxed, and even doing a loving imitation of Louis Armstrong. Later that night, Bekim and Nol laugh about the fact that the war has given them a cover for their romance, and they would like the war to continue so that they can go on loving each other.
In these two scenes, where Ukaj and Salihu display a great deal of chemistry, it becomes clear that “The Marriage” should have been about the love between Bekim and Nol in wartime followed by a brief coda where Bekim forces himself to get married. Nothing having to do with either Anita or the marriage itself is as compelling as the love affair between these two men.
Golden Globes Snubs and Surprises, From 'Handmaid's Tale' to Sacha Baron Cohen
The 2019 Golden Globes nominations certainly surprised, with "Vice" leading the way in nods among movies -- shutting out some other deserving nominees in the process. Here are some of the biggest surprises and snubs from Thursday morning.
SURPRISE: Sacha Baron Cohen, "Who Is America?"
Sacha Baron Cohen's nod for his controversial Showtime satire "Who Is America?" was quite the shock -- especially because the comedian's nom helped push Ted Danson out of the running for "The Good Place."
Showtime
SNUB: No songs from "Mary Poppins Returns"
While Emily Blunt and Lin-Manuel Miranda got nominated for their work in Disney's "Mary Poppins" reboot, none of the new, original songs in the musical got recognized, in favor of songs by Troye Sivan, Dolly Parton, Kendrick Lamar, Lady Gaga and Annie Lennox.
Disney
SURPRISE: Rosamund Pike, "A Private War"
Rosamund Pike upset a huge field of actresses, including Viola Davis for "Widows," for her work as war correspondent Marie Colvin in "A Private War."
Keith Bernstein/Aviron
SNUB: Ryan Gosling and Damien Chazelle, "First Man"
With the exception of Claire Foy and its score from Justin Hurwitz, Damien Chazelle's "First Man" was almost entirely shut out of the Golden Globes race, including star Ryan Gosling as astronaut Neil Armstrong.
Universal
SURPRISE: Elsie Fisher, "Eighth Grade"
The teenage Elsie Fisher has been a dark horse for her work in Bo Burnham's "Eighth Grade," but we're happy to see she made the cut in the comedy and musical category with the Globes. Gucci!
A24
SNUB: Ethan Hawke, "First Reformed"
Ethan Hawke gave one of the best performances of his career in Paul Schrader's "First Reformed," leading many to believe he would be a dark horse contender. Not so this year.
A24
SURPRISE: Lucas Hedges, "Boy Erased"
Lucas Hedges was great in two films this year, "Ben Is Back" and "Boy Erased," so we're glad the one didn't cancel out the other.
Focus Features
SNUB: Sterling K. Brown and "This Is Us"
NBC's ratings and critical darling got no love from the HFPA Thursday, shaking things up after Sterling K. Brown grabbed a Best Actor win last year. "This Is Us" scored several previous acting noms, along with a nod for Best Drama series for both of its first two seasons.
NBC
SURPRISE: "The Alienist"
TNT's drama "The Alienist" had a big showing, including for Best Drama and for Best Actor in a Drama series, star Daniel Bruhl. The series' inclusion in the possible winners pool is a bit of a surprise, seeing as "The Alienist" only grabbed one Emmy after receiving six nominations
TNT
SNUB: "The Handmaid's Tale"
While actresses Elisabeth Moss and Yvonne Strahovski both got nods, the Hulu adaptation did not, despite winning the award for Best TV series drama last year.
Hulu
SURPRISE: John C. Reilly, "Stan & Ollie"
It was a good year for John C. Reilly, who starred in "The Sisters Brothers" and "Ralph Breaks the Internet" in addition to the not-yet-released "Stan & Ollie," in which he stars opposite Steve Coogan as one half of the famous comedy duo Laurel and Hardy.
Sony Pictures Classics
SNUB: "Cold War"
A luscious, foreign language darling from Poland and thought to be a strong contender in the Oscar race considering its director previously won the prize for "Ida," the black and white drama "Cold War" was left out in the cold by the Globes.
Amazon Studios
SNUB: Yorgos Lanthimos, "The Favourite"
"The Favourite" had a big showing for its actors Olivia Colman, Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz, and even for its screenplay, but surprisingly not so for its director, the Greek Yorgos Lanthimos.
Fox Searchlight
SURPRISE: Candice Bergen
Bergen's nomination for "Murphy Brown" is definitely out of left field, seeing as CBS' revival of the '90s sitcom's reboot has been seeing low Nielsen ratings and didn't receive a back order for additional episodes.
CBS
SNUB: "Atlanta"
While Donald Glover was nominated for his work as an actor, his show "Atlanta" failed to earn a nomination in the Best Comedy or Musical category, despite winning the prize for its first season two years ago.
FX
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Sterling K. Brown, Ryan Gosling and the songs of ”Mary Poppins Returns“ were some of those left out
The 2019 Golden Globes nominations certainly surprised, with "Vice" leading the way in nods among movies -- shutting out some other deserving nominees in the process. Here are some of the biggest surprises and snubs from Thursday morning.