Initially conducted over Skype chats, two young women (who are never named) are starting to get to know one another. They have a common link in the very tall girl of the title, having both been her lover. The less confident of the two still hankers to see the tall girl again, her initiation into a gay relationship. While the other seems much more interested in her new friend, and wants to move things on. She's a film maker, well established in the lesbian community, and comfortable with her sexuality. Her new friend still hasn't come out to her parents, says, in all seriousness, that there are no lesbians where she comes from, and is nervous about her inexperience.
Their affair emphasises these differences, one reluctant to go public with her new lover, the other impatient to move things on. The pressures of a society where homophobic bigotry is still rife stifles one, challenges the other.
Although a short film at only 70 minutes, and the plot moves swiftly, there are still plenty of quiet moments allowing the 2 principal actors (Silvana Mihai and Florentina Nastase) time to build up the tenderness and awkwardness that exists between the characters. It can be touching at times, and there's a sadness that outside forces are the cause of much of the disparity between them.
In a Q&A after the screening the director (Bogdan Olteanu) told us that the initial screening in Bucharest had been protested by the far right, and there is a still a climate of fear in the country which prevents many LGBT people form living their lives openly. Perhaps this very ordinary romance will be one small step towards achieving equality.
And isn't that great title?
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