TRIBECA 2020 - Asia
TRIBECA 2020Ruthy Pribar's debut feature film, Asia, is a heartbreaking and captivating tale of love between mother and daughter. Captured in a devastating albeit beautiful manner, with two stunning performances from Alena Yiv and Shira Haas as Asia and Vika, respectively.
The thematic weight and emotive passion that Pribar's feature entails is a powerhouse of range, from the performances to emotional prowess of its screenplay. The performances from both actresses Alena Yiv and Shira Haas are stunning turns in provocative, impassioned gravitas. Yiv, in particular, showcases a tremendous amount of emotional range and skill through stoicism and pause. Each emotional beat surrounding Yiv's titular character allows the dark narrative arc to develop and elevate to consume the silence that the character is tormented within.
It is here in which writer-director Ruthy Pribar's superbly crafted screenplay comes alive in a sharp implementation of cold ingenuity. Emotions and passion are not primarily evoked through spoken word but via touch, smiles and physicality. Not only does this elevate the emotional connection through the two characters but also deepens the bond between character and audience.
A silence that heightens the emotional impact ten-fold, expertly highlighting the passionate strength and turmoil of single motherhood to a fascinating and profound degree – in all its intimacy and depth – as well as the emotional and physical turmoil of the devastating paralysis that befalls Haas' Vika.
Haas' puts forward a terrific performance that surrounds different societal issues of passion against the lived life of Yiv’s Asia through exploring the bonds of the characters' friends and direction of self-exploration, while also exploring the impact Vika’s youth and vitality. Resulting in a powerful and emotionally profound resonation that devastates in the loss of the characters of innocence and future.
Ruthy Pribar's film, not only as a directorial debut but as a feature in general, is a stunning, emotionally charged documentation of the hope and tragedy found in love and family, beautifully orchestrated in two seismic performances from Alena Yiv and Shira Haas, who showcase extraordinary emotional range and skill.
