AllMovie

Making his feature-film directorial debut, Slovenian short film director Janez Lapajne's improvisational romantic drama Rustling Landscapes centers around the story of one young couple at a crossroads in their relationship. Seeking solitude from his longtime girlfriend Katarina (Barbara Cerar), Luka (Rok Vihar) retreats to rural Slovenia to clear his head. Katarina follows soon thereafter in an attempt to patch things up -- but only succeeds in further distancing herself emotionally from Luka. Katarina, while out and about, makes the acquaintance of a gregarious soldier named Primoz (Gregor Zorc) and the two begin developing an unexpected friendship that quickly goes beyond platonic. Luka, meanwhile, finds his own confidante in a villager named Ana (Masa Derganc) and this second pairing also begins to blossom. With new relationships sprouting around an old dying one, Luka and Katarina are forced to choose between resolving their issues or walking away from them altogether. Rustling Landscapes was selected for inclusion into the World Cinema program of the 2002 Montreal World Film Festival.