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RIGA 2024

Review: Termini

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- The latest work from Latvian documentarian Laila Pakalnina is a hypnotic meditation on public transport and its relation to the world we live in

Review: Termini

Termini [+see also:
interview: Laila Pakalnina
film profile
]
, Laila Pakalnina’s latest documentary which premiered in competition at the Riga International Film Festival swiftly followed by an International Premiere as part of the competition programme of the Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival, is not the first time that the Latvian director has dabbled in the joys of public transportation. 2004's The Bus, focusing on the ride between Tallinn and the Russian city of Kaliningrad, explored the ever-changing nature of national borders and the upheavals that were only recent in post-Soviet societies. Her latest film offers a more intimate look as we examine various public transport stops in the centre and suburbs of Riga. As buses, trolleybuses and trams drop people off and take them away, the film is less about borders between countries and more about how public transport delineates many of our lives as well as becomes a focus point for the diversity of society. 

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The central conceit of Termini is simple: we focus on numerous transport stops – some of theme rural, some suburban. The camera pans round as we survey the scene. People mill about. Some buy tickets. Others stare at their phones. Buses or trams arrive. Some spill out. Others get on. We soon move to another location where the situation repeats itself again and the world and its people continue their ever-important need to get from point A from point B.

Initially the film does feel like it falls into an exercise of gimmickry: with no narrative spine to speak of (there’s little to no discernible dialogue in the film and little context given to any of the scenes beyond that they are all set at public transport stops), the film appears to do little more than show a bunch of bus stations. 

Yet the rhythm of the film becomes its central point. Cinematographer’s Gints Bērziņš constantly moving camera and stark black and white compositions give the film an almost hypnotic quality, lulling us into a serene sense of contemplation. And it’s there when the depths of the film begin to reveal themselves. Bus stops, train stations and the like occupy a unique space in many people’s lives. They’re a point in which we want to move but are forced to wait and, even in a world in which entertainment is all there at the bottom of a smartphone, we often contemplate our surroundings in a way that no other location invites. We observe, we examine, we see people from all walks of life. Sometimes we try and deflect these observations, putting on headphones and hiding behind a book. Termini becomes another plane of observation, one in which we are mercifully free of the risk of missing our bus or being observed back as we reflect on these strangely liminal spaces which no-one fully occupies yet are rarely completely empty.

Termini, its subtle pleasures and revelations often hidden below the surface, will appeal to those who appreciate observational documentaries (those who are fans of Pakalnina would most likely count). International traction outside of the world of documentary festivals will probably be limited, yet those who do catch it will probably enjoy the wait as much as the ride.

Termini was produced by Hargla Company - Kompanija Hargla

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