THE STORY – A burned-out mother embarks on an Italian road trip with her intellectually disabled son.
THE CAST – Anna Geislerová, David Vostrčil & Juliana Olhová
THE TEAM – Zuzana Kirchnerová (Director/Writer) & Tomáš Bojar (Writer)
THE RUNNING TIME – 100 Minutes
Ester (Anna Geislerová) just wants some time to herself. Her life caring for her disabled son, David (David Vostrčil), is tiring, and she was looking forward to time alone at her friend’s house in Italy. But when her arrangements for David’s care fall apart, she’s forced to take him with her. She escapes with David in an old camper van, driving around the countryside to find a way to enjoy herself without abandoning David. Eventually, they meet some young fellow Czechs also on holiday, including a spitfire with magenta hair named Zuza (Juliana Olhová), who decides to ditch her friends and travel with Ester after taking a liking to her and David. With another adult on board, Ester starts to take more chances to live for herself, but will she ever be able to reconcile her own desires with her duty to David?
Based on director and co-writer Zuzana Kirchnerová’s own experiences raising a child with Down syndrome and autism, “Caravan” has the kind of lived-in quality that can only come from an artist who has experienced the very thing they’re making art about. The film has a texture to it that makes it feel like a documentary at times, overflowing as it is with sharply observed behavior from each of its characters and a relaxed style that allows the film’s story to wash over you like gentle waves. The film represents naturalism at its peak, a striking example of just how much a film can achieve with as little cinematic editorializing as possible.
That said, the film also shows the limitations of this naturalistic style. While watching the film is often an intoxicating experience, the story has so little shape to it that it can try one’s patience. We drift alongside Ester, David, and Zuza as they flit from location to location, eating and drinking and dancing their way through the Italian countryside without any sense of direction or defined purpose. This works as an extension of Ester and Zuza’s aimlessness, but it leads to the film feeling just as aimless as they are. All of the big story events feel culled from old road movie and family drama clichés. Zuza and Ester look like they might have a dalliance; after the initial thrill has worn off, Zuza starts getting bored with David, and then becomes outright hostile towards him; Ester seeks a man for an affair; David goes missing. These clichés don’t help the aimlessness, as everything that does happen feels rather expected. While character dynamics evolve over the course of the narrative, the characters themselves stay pretty much the same, always remaining fundamentally who they were at the start of this journey.
Not that these characters aren’t fascinating to watch. Even though the screenplay fails them on some levels, the performers all bring a layered nuance to their roles that deepens the connection between them and the audience. The intensely charismatic Olhová, as the enigmatic drifter who comes between mother and child for a time, achieves a striking balance between Zuza’s more mature and more immature tendencies, finding increasingly interesting places to let her more petulant, childlike nature peek through. Vostrčil doesn’t have much to do compared to the women, but his winning presence and complete commitment shine through, making David easy to root for even though he’s the cause of much of Ester’s distress. Geislerová find the tenderness in Ester even when she’s unleashing her pent-up frustration on her companions, turning in a performance of rare sensitivity. Ester is often at her best when she’s at her messiest, which can be entertaining to watch, but Geislerová makes sure that we never lose sight of the fact that this is a woman desperate to find herself after so long repressing her own wants and needs to care for her son. All three actors create a wholly believable rapport that makes it easy to root for them all to find their bliss in the world, which is key to the film’s success.
Kirchnerová’s solid work in the director’s chair isn’t just relegated to the strong ensemble work, though. The soft-focus cinematography gives the film the feeling of a hazy, half-remembered memory, especially when paired with some moments of beautifully impressionistic editing. The score by Aid Kid and Viera Marinová conjures up feelings of wonder and beauty, amplifying the freedom of being on the road with no immediate responsibilities. The cinematic style makes it easy to get lost in the world alongside Ester and David, immersing you in their headspace. That makes “Caravan” an engrossing experience, even if its issues prevent it from being great.
