KIRA’S REASON: A LOVE STORY

English Title: KIRA’S REASON: A LOVE STORY

KIRA'S REASON: A LOVE STORY hails from the Denmark-sired Dogma95 school of filmmaking, in which hand-held digital cameras, natural light and non-constructed sets convey an overall absence of Hollywood-soundstage artifice. The result heightens the viewer's sense of intimacy and connection with the characters and plot. KIRA'S REASON: A LOVE STORY is a microscopic study of relationships under siege by mental and marital instability. Kira, a seemingly-content housewife in her mid-30s, has begun behaving irrationally, the onset of a psychological breakdown that lands her in an institution. Upon release she wants to resume a normal life with her husband Mads and two children, struggling to maintain equilibrium. But Kira's domestic existence will never be the same; she bolts from the welcome-home party that Mads had arranged for her, and has an unsatisfying reunion with her own father. Over the next serveral days things only get worse. Kira finds day-to-day decision-making and decorum slipping beyond her grasp. Mads, for his part, is not the comforting, supportive husband he should be, and he retreats, physically and emotionally, from his wife's illness. A startling betrayal and her own unreliable faculties mean Kira must face a world forever altered. If you have never seen a Dogma95 feature, this is a superb example of the format's dramatic power, highlighted by Stine Stengade's haunting performance as the fragile heroine, interrupted. (In Danish with English subtitles)