Now it is official: "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" will come to an end this May. All potential spin-offs aside, this extraordinary show will be grievously missed - no doubt about that. But, on the plus side, they really called the curtain in time and are closing it with true dignity, after getting better and better, gaining fresh momentum with each season, never lame, never repetitive, and certainly never boring in all of seven years. That is all you can wish for in any show.<br> So I think, amidst all the complaining about the main star's alleged abandoning of the show and letting it end at all, it is time to say a heart-felt thank-you to creator Joss Whedon and his outstanding cast and crew for all their ingenious work on what may well have been the best seven TV years of our lives. "Buffy", which so successfully evaded any insipid one-way labelling as "horror", "mystery", or even "drama", continued to thrill more than its original teenage target audience with its intricately woven levels of metaphor, with the most sparkling casual wit since Oscar Wilde, with a whole world of clever cultural cross-referencing, and last but not least with a thorough love of language and all its splendours (and not just the much talked-about teen lingo, just think of multi-layered episode titles like "Earshot", "Pangs", or "Entropy").<br> This show is really anything but kids' stuff. It's not just "feminist" either, although it is more than refreshing to see women for once being in charge, being obviously and naturally in cool and complete control, empowered to the brim, without degrading men either. But "Buffy"'s merits also include depicting overachievers, underachievers, gay people, hormonally overcharged boys, emotionally neglected youths, and many more sadly under-represented average existences other than the popular and the beautiful, and depicting them in a way that actually is at the same time fair and realistic. Yes, realistic it is, which may come as a bit of a shock to people who up to now only knew that this is a show about a blonde girl fighting vampires and demons with taek-won-do. Go, watch it: You'll be surprised! Then there is the fine and differentiated handling of love and addiction, of violence and self-control, of loss and depression (which the frequently misunderstood season six was all about). All of these are things you don't see dealt with that recommendably very often, certainly not on television. And Joss Whedon is not just intelligent, he also had the courage to defy prime time watching habits and include risky formal experiments like "Restless", and personal statements like "The Body"- which came out eventually as some of the greatest hours of all. <br>The casting is exceptional, too. Every single actor gives a brilliant performance, with Sarah Michelle Gellar pulling through the years of her demanding job with as much discipline and talent as Buffy herself, and Alyson Hannigan outgrowing herself so quickly she definitely needs to be in a lot more movies as soon as possible. I will repeat it once more, although many have done so before: This show needs more Emmys! ER is great and all, but it ought to have to step back at least this once.<br> So, a ton of thanks for this. Fortunately DVD collections have been invented, so this legacy can be cherished and passed on to generations to come. I have no doubt it will.
Reviews
2 Reviews
Ödipussi
(1988)
One of the best things that ever happened to German cinema!
26 November 2000
One of the few real must-sees in German film. A sublimely funny and exceedingly well observed presentation of human behaviour in general and "typical German" flaws in particular. Loriot (von Buelow) mercilessly exposes the ridiculous pretence of chronically insecure people desperately trying to appear cool and urbane. Every time I watch this film I get some new tiny detail that sends me into hysterical laughing fits. Watch out for the kick-the-can failures, the sweater struggle and candle cat or the poem designed to impress in Milan: "
so klein und gruen, wie Sie und ich" true art! (Plus homophile bonus: a hilarious Styrofoam version of Julie Andrews' great "Jazz Hot" appearance in "Victor/Victoria".) If you want to see how life is like in the average inhibition hell and would like to have some serious fun , try to get hold of a copy and don't miss it!
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