Review of Aviva

Aviva (2020)
6/10
Original, strange, interesting, but poorly executed.
25 December 2020
Warning: Spoilers
The story of Aviva and Eden's relationship unfolds, with each of them being played by two actors: a male and a female - representing each character's masculine and feminine sides. In some scenes the male and female sides of the same character converse/fight with each other. On the one hand it's somewhat confusing, but on the other hand it gives a fresh perspective on how conflict within the individual affects a romantic relationship.

Dance is a major language in this film, and much of it is in the nude - which I believe serves both to highlight the centrality of sex in the relationship and how exposed we are in a truly intimate relationship. Being a modern dance enthusiast, the concept was thrilling to me, and I was extremely excited watching the first dance numbers, but later thoroughly disappointed - as they are mostly well executed but very poorly choreographed.

The music, BTW - by the remarkable Asaf Avidan - is great.

Finally, I would have liked to be kinder, but honestly there's no other way to describe the acting but cringe-worthy, and thus I found it difficult to really sympathize with Aviva and Eden's moments of happiness and pain.

It's so sad, because here's a film with such original and fascinating premise and approach to telling the story - but at the end of the day due to bad acting and boring choreography I spent half of film literally wishing it had been better executed, so I could truly feel for the characters and enjoy the film.
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