The kinetic and scattershot nature of Wave vs. Shore nicely encapsulates the work of its subjects – but the rapid fire editing and a general lack of historical or cultural context makes the film feel more like a photograph itself than a fully-realised documentary.

As a study of the Slovak New Wave, Wave vs. Shore never delves deeply enough for us to fully gather what the group’s ethos is, or why they chose to develop their unique visual style. We see, in montage, many of their experimental images, but the brisk editing means we never get to appreciate them for long.

Wave vs. Shore feels all surface and no substance as we learn little about either the artists or their works. A more patient approach may have served them better.

RATING: 2/5

INFORMATION

CAST: Miro Švolík, Rudo Prekop, Jano Pavlík

DIRECTOR: Martin Štrba

WRITERS: Martin Štrba, Olina Kaufmanová

SYNOPSIS: Documentary. The Slovak New Wave of the early 1980s was an extraordinary group of photographers who disrupted the normalised world of communist Czechoslovakia with their ironic and original works.

Wave vs. Shore was screened as part of the Dare Gala at the 2015 London Film Festival.