SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
The new Lithuanian film "How To Divorce During The War" reminds us, once again, how - to borrow a line from "Casablanca" - the problems of three people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. In Vilnius 2022, Marija and Vytas agree to a divorce, then Russia invades Ukraine the very next morning. Their decision to separate gets all caught up in world events as Vytas, a struggling filmmaker and stay-at-home father to their daughter, Dovile, has to move back with his parents. And Marija, a successful marketing executive, takes up with a woman from her workplace and welcomes a refugee Ukrainian family to their apartment. "How To Divorce During The War" is Lithuania's entry for the Academy Awards. It is directed by Andrius Blazevicius, who joins us now from our studios in New York. Thanks so much for being with us.
ANDRIUS BLAZEVICIUS: Thank you. Thank you for inviting.
SIMON: What came first in the idea for this film - the divorce or the war?
BLAZEVICIUS: First, it was a divorce because this topic is very relevant to many, many people. But still, it wasn't somehow enough for me. I wanted to find something more because it wasn't just enough for me to talk just about a divorce. And when war started in Ukraine, like, it was a very, very shocking thing for Lithuania, which was occupied for 50 years by Russia. So, you know, we have this very sensitive feelings towards this Russian regime.
And that war - it really shook all of the country. Like, I know people who were getting panic attacks, who were leaving a country because they were afraid that we will be next. And the theme of divorce and this war, which, you know, make huge divisions in society - so somehow this connection between this separation and division in a family and division in a society, it connected, like, really, really beautifully.
SIMON: What sets off the separation between Marija and Vytas? It doesn't seem anything serious, although Marija says to him, you're just a housewife now.
BLAZEVICIUS: I was really interested in this topic of gender roles in the family - what, you know, men should do, what women should do then - because, still, Lithuania has some kind of this patriarchalic (ph) tradition in a family. Of course, in the younger generation, it's not that strong but still, you know, you can see that there is a conflict. Because, you know, Marija - she's - she earns money for a family. She's the one who, like, you know, the leader of the family, basically.
SIMON: I mean, she keeps letting him know. Yeah.
BLAZEVICIUS: Oh, yeah. Yeah And she keeps - exactly. And then for him, who is, like, not working for eight years and basically, you know, takes care of a daughter and takes care of the house, of that beautiful apartment they live in, it's struggled for him, you know? Because, you know, he still wants to give something more to the family as a man, this traditional man. So this dynamic of the gender roles in the family is really tricky, I think, at the moment, and not just in Lithuania.
SIMON: Vytas does seem to get a sense of purpose, and he joins other Lithuanian artists in mounting demonstrations against Russia's invasion.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ANTHEM OF THE SOVIET UNION")
URSS SOVIET CHORUS: (Singing in Russian).
SIMON: Is it irreverent to ask - what does a bunch of artists lathering their bodies with red paint really do for Ukraine?
BLAZEVICIUS: I think that it's very good that people are - you know, they had their opinion, and they protest. They try to pay attention to the problems. And the thing is that in Lithuania, this kind of protests, they were really happening, especially in the first year of the war. But this is the thing - that, you know, I have no idea if it helped in a way. But, like, in this film, this character, Vytas, he just becomes - because of that, he becomes, you know, famous again, relevant again, and he finds purpose for himself. But for him, I think the most important thing, that he's giving interviews after that, and he's basically using...
SIMON: Yeah.
BLAZEVICIUS: ...That for himself. And I found it that, you know, there are many need these kind of examples in my country, which I found very hypocritical. And there were, like, people who were building their brand because of this kind of thing - because of the war. Or, even, there were companies who were advertising themselves, you know? They were, like, posters in a city. Like, the company, blah, blah, blah, you know, and we support Ukraine. And it was - I don't know - I found it really, somehow, tricky.
SIMON: Yeah. What does that have to do with selling people nails or peanut butter, you mean?
BLAZEVICIUS: Yeah. Exactly. Exactly. You could do that, I think, in much more subtle way.
SIMON: Meanwhile, Vytas moves back in with his parents. They have a different view of the war, don't they?
BLAZEVICIUS: Oh, yeah. And this is very, you know, quite common thing for older generation - to be honest - in Lithuania. I mean, like, percentagewise, there are not that many people who support Putin's regime in Lithuania. Like, really, there are not. So the thing is that the older people in Lithuania, because they grew up in Soviet times, and the Russian language was mandatory - everybody had to speak Russian language. So, you know, they know Russian language, but they don't know English language.
So what happens - that older people, very often, they watch Russian media. They consume Russian content. And younger people - they don't speak Russian, most of them. They speak English, so they consume English content. So this is a thing. And this is - you know, again, it's a conflicts - conflict in society and conflict in the film - a very important one.
SIMON: Does the war more or less next door subtly or not so subtly make each of the characters see their own lives a little differently?
BLAZEVICIUS: Oh, yeah. I think this is one of the most important things, is that, you know, this hell of conformism and the way, you know, you're imagining who you are, like, you're imagining your values. And then, especially in Marija's case, she collapses. You know...
SIMON: Yeah.
BLAZEVICIUS: It's a hell for her, you know, what she goes through, what she understands about herself. And in a way, I think it's still - it's very positive for her because she gives up in a way. But I think from this point, she can grow, you know? She can - she started to reflect herself - what she really is, who she really - you know, what's her real value. And even if they are not right, I think, if you realize that, then you can, you know, work with that. And the same with Vytas. You know, thanks to the war, he became relevant. He became...
SIMON: Yeah.
BLAZEVICIUS: ...Important. And it helped him to pave the way back to his home, which he really loves.
SIMON: Yeah. Andrius Blazevicius, and his new film is "How To Divorce During The War." It's in select theaters now. Thank you so much for being with us.
BLAZEVICIUS: Thank you so much. It was a great pleasure.
(SOUNDBITE OF AUKAI AND RICHARD HOUGHTEN'S "SLOW SUN") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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