Housekeeping for Beginners Reviews (original) (raw)

Within "Housekeeping’s” restless, naturalistic aesthetic, Stolevski crafts complex and poignant images, contrasting the playacting the couple is forced to do with their searing gazes.

Stolevski’s lively, garrulous script may be plot-heavy, but the film isn’t propelled as much by grand narrative turns as it is by the powderkeg reactivity of its characters. Each scrap and squabble and occasional flash of understanding between them activates the film anew, so no interpersonal dynamic here ever feels comfortably settled.

Australians had better start claiming this gifted writer/director as one of their own quick-smart. This is Goran Stolevski's 3rd feature release in as many years. He has a knack for authentic, energetic stories fleshed with deeply flawed, funny, evolving characters. He is also a wonderful storyteller. In lesser hands, this could be a well-worn tale of misfits and society's marginalia finding a place to call home. But in Stolevski's deft hands, we get carried into a universal tumble-dryer about everybody's family and our need for a place where we can need and want and feel. The performances he manages to get out of his 5 year-old scene stealer and the cast of dozens of untrained actors is a masterclass for up-and-coming film-makers. Stolevski's raw, intimate cinematography and energetic editing complete the showcase of instincts this talented film-maker is blessed with. I hope he starts to get the attention he deserves.

Sem dar um respiro de alívio, o microcosmos daquela família é revirado do avesso com vários tipos, do casal gay estranho à prima com doença terminal, deixando duas filhas, uma criança e uma adolescente rebelde, fora as condiçõe sdegradantes em que vivem. É um filme que se sustenta pelos fortalecimentos dos laços primários (familiares): veja como no começo nem queriam aceitar o rapaz gay no sei familiar, e depois não apenas ele conta com essa rede de apoio como promove mudanças naquela estrutura. Da mesma forma as configurações de maternidade e paternidade, que passam a ser apenas formais, já que são os laços de aproximação que devem contar. Embora apelativo, bonito retrato e as atuações ajudam muito aqui.

Writer and director Goran Stolevski gives us an atypical family portrait that’s brilliantly political without being preachy, loving without being maudlin and epic by being specifically tiny.

Writer-director Goran Stolevski’s Housekeeping for Beginners (Domakinstvo za pocetnici) is a fizzy, huggable portrait of a self-made, roughly blended queer family.

The film manages to capture the specific way queer communities communicate with one another and the unique chemistry between them in a way few others have.

It’s hard to fault Goran Stolevski’s “Housekeeping for Beginners” for being chaotic and miserable. That’s the mood he’s after — and he captures it with such assurance that the film is a tough watch.

In spite of the too-muchness of their performances, the actors wrestle for expressiveness and subtlety against the script’s more obvious and schematic telegraphing of not-quite-nuclear discontent and, ultimately, reconciliation.

Alternative “family” structures have been around for some time now, and they’ve assumed a variety of forms, both domestically and overseas, as well as in their essential composition. And, in a number of cases, it has taken some trial and error to figure out what works best for these diverse groupings, depending on the various factors that characterize the individuals involved. Such is the case in this profile of a multi-ethnic, mostly LGBTQ+ household in Skopje, North Macedonia that struggles to find a harmonious footing when stricken by a tragedy involving a family matriarch (Alina Serban). Those left behind (Anamaria Marinca, Vladimir Tintor, Samson Selim) must figure out how to regroup, particularly when it comes to the care of a belligerent adolescent (Mia Mustafa) and her sweet, young, surprisingly worldly half-sister (Dzada Selim). It’s especially challenging for those in charge, given that they’re not terribly experienced at (nor overly interested in) the responsibility for such matters. They truly find themselves engaged in a crash course of “housekeeping for beginners,” one that finds them with one foot each in the middle class world of Skopje and in the impoverished world of nearby Shutka, an enclave of Roma (a.k.a. “Gypsy”) culture. Writer-director Goran Stolevski’s third feature outing provides an intriguing look at life in locales that have not received much cinematic attention, depicted through the eyes of an eclectic mix of characters living lives far different from what one typically finds in most conventional households. This domestic comedy-drama gets off to a somewhat rocky start, mainly due to a failure in identifying the nature of the relationships among the principals, and a narrative that can be rather episodic at times, with resolutions to its multiple story threads that feel incomplete or end abruptly (most notably in the final act). Viewers probably would have benefitted from some additional information about the ethnic backgrounds of the characters, too, given that many viewers are likely unfamiliar with the cultures involved. However, once the picture starts settling down and finding its rhythm, this release definitely gets stronger and more involving as it progresses, touching audiences profoundly, given that the situations that arise are often universal in nature, no matter what structure a family unit takes. “Housekeeping for Beginners” definitely has its strengths and touching moments; it’s a little disappointing, though, that there aren’t more of them. Greater clarification and consistency in the storytelling would have done this offering a world of good in its depiction of a world otherwise seldom seen.

Production Company List Production, Madants, Kinorama, SENSE Production, Industria Film, Film i Väst, Common Ground Pictures, Causeway Films, Macedonian Film Agency, Hrvatski Audiovizualni Centar (HAVC), Polski Instytut Sztuki Filmowej, Filmski centar Srbije, Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Serbia, Kosova Cinematography Center, Tango Entertainment (III), New Europe Film Sales, Adelaide Film Festival

Release Date Apr 5, 2024

Duration 1 h 47 m

Rating R

Tagline Home is where you belong.

LesGaiCineMad, Madrid International LGBT Film Festival

• 2 Wins & 2 Nominations

Venice Film Festival

• 1 Win & 2 Nominations

Chicago International Film Festival

• 1 Win & 2 Nominations