Plot

Premiering at the 2000 Los Angeles Independent Film Festival, Bunny offers a look at an Eastern European couple's difficult introduction to American culture. Arriving in an anonymous U.S. city, Nik (Edyk Dratver) and Luda (Petra Tikalova) are taken in by Luda's brusque Aunt Elise (Elizabeth Liebel). As they attempt to find work, Nik and Luda meet with a slew of xenophobic rejection until finally they land jobs as part of an experimental public works project. The project requires the couple to dress up in pink bunny costumes and offer anonymous, understated moral support to the city's denizens. While Nik, who was a lawyer back home, is disgusted by his new job, Luda revels in it, and their marriage soon enters a territory as rocky as their assimilation. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, Rovi

Review

Mia Trachinger's film recalls the laconic humor of Jim Jarmusch and the absurdist sensibilities of Eugene Ionesco. At its best moments, Bunny is marked by moments of wit and sharp social satire. In one shot, a woman bawls and clutches Nikolai, as he grows increasingly unnerved and uncomfortable. In another, a half dozen stern-faced men in full bunny regalia crowd into the back of a white van. These public security blankets for heartbroken yuppies look haunted and beaten down, like apprehensive soldiers in a losing army. In spite of this, Bunny never quite gels. By the film's end, when the tone shifts from deadpan to meaty drama, the film loses its freshness and edges into the realm of pretension. The film's performances are good across the board. Radiating bruised dignity over the demeaning nature of his job and anguish over the slow dissolution of his marriage, (Edward Dratner) is particularly memorable as Nikolai, while Brian Morri is deliciously unctuous as Luda and Nikolai's boss Mr. Morri. Bunny is an interesting, if ultimately unsuccessful, work by a young director who shows great promise. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

Credit

Anita Cabada - Costume Designer, Mia Trachinger - Director, Bob Brooks - Editor, Jonathan Siegel - Composer (Music Score), Rebecca Sonnenshine - Producer

Previous:	Bunnicula: The Vampire Rabbit (1979 Film), Bunker Paradise (2005 Film)
Next:	Bunny Chow: Know Thyself (2006 Film), Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965 Film)