Warsaw 2014: NAME ME Zooms In On Abandoned Daughters

Mark Ziselson's camera brings us to sun-bathed Crimea, untouched by any military whatsoever with waves splashing ashore, a vacation area asking for teenage coming-of-age dreams to be shattered during summer holidays. The geography itself does not play a pivotal role within the plot, while in the light of recent political circumstances in this particular corner, it is hard to dispel any implicit statements. Fortunately, Sayfullaeva´s narrative stands strong on its own ground, and drags viewers into the turmoil of tender juvenile soul and personality transforming events. 

The three-act structure in Name Me is not a blind pursuit to fulfill the textbook framework, yet feels very natural considering the development of the overall plot and the central threesome of characters. Taking into account the rather minimalistic set-up, Sayfulleava along her colleague Lubov Mulmenko penned a ripe screenplay free of any narrative wadding. The exchange of roles happens to be a prominent motif, mostly in comedies, whilst in Name Me the act of newly and temporarily-acquired skin disturbs what appears to be a fragile equilibrium between the friends and simultaneously brings up the question of hypocrisy and pretense. 

The first act develops in comradely atmosphere as Olya can observe her biological father under the veil of discretion. She does not know that Sasha also suppresses daddy issues, however. And Olya´s father seems to be the perfect match. An unacknowledged second plot line gradually emerges over the course of the first act, explicitly admitting Sasha as a protagonist. Actually, both girls are part of the same figure, the archetype of the abandoned daughter that grows into the next significant motif of the film. The script hides many particularities, despite following known formulas and genre patterns; both writers modify some of them, tweaking them to ensure coherent vision, message and theme while not betraying their own voicec. The narrative strategy and those small plot devices push the script above the average level. 

Well-cast roles hide another charm of Name Me. Konstatin Lavronenko finds himself in the shoes of a father -- he played a similar part in Zvyagintsev´s acclaimed The Return -- torn between two girls. The roles of friends were established upon a different type of behaviour reflecting the same cause. Young Alexandra Bortich and Marina Vasilieva star as the low self-esteemed Olya, fostering a rampant fury, and coquettish Sasha, hiding her gentle side under a sluttish guise. Both actresses play the roles using stylized, symptomatic attributes of each character, more than would be acceptable in a purely psychological film. The play with figures rather than actors suits the chosen narrative strategy better. Instead of Olya and Sasha, the absence of a father figure troubles Lolita and Cinderella. 

The change, or better to say metamorphosis, forms a leitmotif of the whole film. It does not only trigger the plot but also wraps it up, thus constituting the film's narrative framing. The hour-glass story structure enables the director to step outside the characters' precisely restricted typification and to explore more of the (mostly Freudian) daughter mental landscape. 

Name Me might look to be a lost girl, melodramatic elegy to a missing father in the final effect, however, Sayfullaeva and Mulmov´s screenplay accommodates archetypes, stereotypes and motifs in a flourishing narrative and synergic puzzle that beats that effect. Moreover, Sayfulleaeva demonstrates her skills and joins the ranks of talented, emerging female filmmakers.