How often do you come across a film so simple and poetic that within 30 minutes you begin to relate its narrative with your own life? Danish film Loving Pia (At elske Pia) is one such marvel. Directed by Daniel Borgman, the 100-minute cinematic experience deals with the complicated topic of loneliness and fear of losing, in the most simplistic way possible. The story is of a 60-year old spinster, who lives with her 80-year old mother.
Now, realising that death is inevitable and soon, the mother wants her mentally disabled daughter to live in a group home dedicated to people like her, but Pia thinks finding a man could be an answer. Then enters Jens, a potential partner for Pia and how the narrative unfolds is the journey worth talking about. Dating for the first time at the ripe age of 60 is challenging for her and the experience delivers a reality check with plenty of punchlines.
Festival films usually have a superior hold over techniques that give the required flavour to narratives. The grainy and still frame technique used throughout the film is what holds the ground and makes you voyeur into the bland yet warming life of Pia and her mother. There are moments in the film that hold you and make you smile at the child-like perspective Borgman has used to tell the ‘love-tale’ of a 60-year-old woman. Both women speak of everyday things in an unadorned deadpan, especially Pia, given her mental incapacity. Daily life for them is gentle and tender, yet we sense something ominous throughout the story. The time when Jens is driving back from Copenhagen, or, when Pia comes back to an empty home. The fear of losing seeps into the mind of the audience and that is an achievement for any storyteller. Also noteworthy is the innocence of Jens and Pia, while they are staying in a hotel together. While lust might be an attraction in a young age, by the time one reaches the old bracket, the romance becomes just about company and companionship.
Another strong aspect of the film is the self-worth of the protagonist. She drifts off to a different world with a man named Jose Bove, whom she sees on television and considers him to be a possible mate. There is a strong sense of realism throughout the film, mixed with the romanticism of a Jane Austen novel. Probably this is why this film is meant for every independent single woman, who has fallen in love with their singlehood and though a partner is required to fight the loneliness of an aged life, but not at the cost of losing the sense of self.
Daniel Borgman successfully presents this relatable tale from rural Denmark and the relatability factor makes it one of the stars of film festival circuit and one for cinema-lovers.
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