In the Strange Pursuit of Laura Durand (2019) – Film Review
Director: Dimitris Bavellas
Cast: Makis Papadimitriou, Michalis Sarantis, Anna Kalaitzidou
Certificate: 15
By Roger Crow
Impoverished mates Antonis and Christos are disconnected from society and surviving on Christos’ unemployment benefit. Their only escape is their passion for music and their 8-bit band, Speed_28.
The friends are united by their platonic love interest, Laura Durand, a 1990s porn star who disappeared mysteriously years before.
As the friends’ lives go from bad to worse, they decide the time has come to find the eponymous actress.
With its retro opening titles, cool logo and glorious old school synth score, this cult Greek road movie promises much.
“Intriguing”
Alas, it plods when it should sprint. Yes, there are some nice touches: trippy moments, offbeat characters, the odd reference to Blade Runner, and a cool monochrome musical number is just the lift the movie needs after the one-hour mark. It’s the sort of thing that made The Breakfast Club work back in the 1980s.
It’s rough around the edges and needed some snappier scenes, but this intriguing curio should attract a cult following in Blighty.
Dimitris Bavellas is a film maker to watch in the coming years, and while this might not be a slam dunk of a movie, it has a certain something that is worth at least one look.
