Urzula Antoniak is someone who understands loneliness. She understands her emotions very well and knows how to express them in a way you can understand, even when a film uses mainly visually storytelling and minimal dialogue. I can say that after watching Nothing Personal and now Code Blue.
It's a movie about a lonely nurse, Marian, who attaches herself to her patients because she has no one else to share with. And who better than the elderly, who can be seen to be in state more vulnerable than her. They need her help and when she gives them that help she feels useful. At one point she holds hands with an old man then euthanizes him. At another time when she tries to do the same, her the patient is frightened. It can't always work out the way she wishes.
When out for a run she helps an old woman with her groceries;they go inside her home to talk and the woman somehow can tell by the look on Marian's face that she's a sad, lonely woman. This scene felt a bit forced because I can't imagine a stranger casually inviting her in and making that immediate observation about her. And is Marian, who has trouble with people, really going to walk in and start conversing with the old woman? Nonetheless, pretty much everyone in her life knows her situation. She's asked if she's married? If she has anyone? Which must be awkward for her to answer especially at her age.
She, however is not the most easy person to sympathize with. From haggling over eighty cents at the market to witnessing a rape and doing nothing about it, her loneliness and isolation has probably made her less compassionate. And very lonely she must feel, for in one moment she takes the semen from a used condom she found on the ground and rubs it on her vagina. A scene that many may find disgusting, but I found poignant.
The ending to this film is not one I enjoyed. It was rather disturbing. I mean, I understand how pitiful this woman is and I didn't need to see her in such a pathetic state. Despite my problems with it, this is a touching film about loneliness that I highly recommend.
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