Martynas, played by J. Jankevičius in “The Instructor,” is an arrogant but kind-hearted Vilnius resident. A foolish accident, combined with Martynas’s own arrogance, causes him to lose his driving license. For the guy, it’s no big deal, but for his pregnant fiancée Indrė, it’s the last straw. The woman packs her things and leaves to her parents’ place.
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To win back his fiancée, the man tries every possible way to regain his license. It turns out it’s not that simple: a strange driving school and an even stranger instructor will demand much more than just parking the car correctly.
The eccentric instructor’s methods, driving lessons, and humorous situations hide more than just a comedy. It is also a story about a man who delayed growing up for too long.
The idea for the film came to D. Klajumas not by chance – Dominykas still does not have a driver’s license. His experienced difficulties and the strange driving instructor became the starting point for the film.
“The funniest events and characters are those we can recognize in reality,” says the film’s director R. Kuliūnas, revealing that real events intertwine with fiction in the film, and the instructor becomes a much more important figure – a teacher, or maybe a lifestyle coach? Or maybe a guru? Or all at once. In the film, the instructor not only teaches, he touches the deepest corners of Martynas’s soul, awakening emotions he hasn’t felt for a long time.”
Although at first glance “The Instructor” may seem like a very masculine film, the creators are convinced that the story will be very recognizable to women as well. The main character’s immaturity, unwillingness to take responsibility, and reluctance to make decisions are things many female viewers have encountered.
“The most tragic thing in life is to see an adult man acting like a child,” smiles the idea’s author and screenwriter D. Klajumas, adding that the driver’s license in the film becomes just an absurd pretext for events – in reality, the hero has to go through a kind of initiation from boy to man.
The screenplay was written by D. Klajumas together with writer and comedian B. Lastauskas. The two authors had already worked together, so Dominykas refined the screenplay structure, while Ben focused more on dialogues and creating the characters’ environment.
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“We used to sit in Dominykas’s office, open the computer, and go through pages discussing and arguing. Sometimes our arguments turned into real duels, but we usually found a compromise,” Ben talks about working together.
Dominykas recalls that while writing the screenplay, he and Ben laughed a lot, read each other new jokes, and tried not to lose the story. Both creators claim they did the best they could. They did not try to please or cater to anyone – they simply enjoyed the creative process.
The main roles were written specifically for J. Jankevičius and D. Klajumas from the first screenplay stage. The director says the actors’ humor differs significantly: Justinas’s humor is subtler and more grounded, Dominykas’s is carefree, dynamic, and sometimes a bit crazy. R. Kuliūnas consciously did not try to make them uniform – he let both live their characters’ lives, complementing each other, which gave the film different shades.
Still, R. Kuliūnas emphasizes that the rhythm of the comedy must be felt not only by the actor. The film is not a stand-up show or a joke; here, editing points, camera angles, and precisely constructed scenes are important.
D. Klajumas participated in the creative process from start to finish. On set, he felt like a showrunner – a person overseeing the story’s direction and helping the creative and business teams communicate.
“I am grateful to the team that made the film. The people who worked on it helped restore faith in Lithuanian cinema,” says Dominykas, adding that cinema is very different from a comedian’s stage performance: when you stumble, someone from the team will always lift you up. On stage, you are alone.
The comedy “The Instructor” will be in Lithuanian cinemas from October 30. The film stars J. Jankevičius, D. Klajumas, Ramūnas Rudokas, Giedrė Pupalaigė, Gytis Pintulis, Dovydas Stončius, Indrė Endriukaitė, Rasa Marazaitė, and Konstantinas Kučko. “The Instructor” was directed by R. Kuliūnas, the screenplay was written by D. Klajumas and B. Lastauskas, and the film was produced by Deividas Misiulis, Mantvidas Žalėnas, Gediminas Struckas, and Titas Motuzas.
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Watch the film trailer here:
