Antares (2004) User Reviews

Pretty Nice !!!

[someonesmart21 · 6/10 · 1 August 2014]

I watch this flick to explore the erotic genre , and its not bad at all you can give it a try , the movie is about three parallel stories running simultaneously and some how connected to each other

The film offers some real sex scenes , there are two of them in the beginning which are really erotic and you will enjoy totally after that the movie started to turn as drama is added in it.

So if you are looking for a movie with complete erotic genre then that's not the right one and if you are looking for a film that have drama with some romance then its the right one.

In a nutshell Antares is a terrific drama/erotic movie and I was pretty much surprised after watching this.

Uninteresting

[kenjha · 5/10 · 29 December 2010]

This film tells three intertwined stories of the residents of an apartment building. This style of filmmaking has become popular of late, following the early success of Robert Altman ("Nashville" and "Short Cuts") and Alejandro Inarritu ("Amores Perros" and "Babel"). This one, however, falls far short of those films. Of the three episodes, the first one is the most interesting, featuring a nurse in a loveless marriage having a brief affair. The other two episodes concern low-lifes making each other's lives miserable. Neither the characters nor the stories are particularly interesting. Of course everything comes together in a predictable finish.

it's the passion and yearning that makes Antares

[shuklaapoorv · 7/10 · 14 January 2011]

Antares is one fine example how the accomplished director Götz Spielmann could weave the delicate cobwebs of the intricacies of human emotions so beautifully on the screen. Spielmann possesses the distinct way of story-telling which doesn't require flamboyant camera-tricks or racy scenes to spice up his story. There the characters evolve slowly and steadily but give you opportunity to learn a thing or two about the complexity of human nature. In Antares, the story loosely follows the lives of three women, crossing one another's paths couple of times. One has a fine family and job yet indulges into passionate affair with a secret taciturn lover. Another desperately wants to get married with her boyfriend, but is very insecure about him. While the third one trying hard to get rid of her violent and abusive ex-husband who could yell at her, beat her but couldn't stop seeing her! But in all stories the core theme is passion and ambiguity of human nature. Here the characters are provided with two options of more, but it's never so simple to choose one of them! Antares tries to explore the complexities of relationships and hence the lives of variety of people trapped into their own emotional webs, the urban way of living has to offer! Antares is all about the unflinching passion and endless yearning inherent to human nature. the director manages to stitch the three parallel stories seamlessly and the characters are left echoing in viewer's mind for long after the movie is finished.

3 interconnected episodes about nasty people

[TdSmth5 · 6/10 · 25 December 2007]

The events here take place in an ugly apartment complex in Vienna. But the exterior ugliness is nothing compared to the rotten people living there. We get to know three couples: a husband and his cheating wife, a very light skinned jealous blonde and her dark-skinned foreign boyfriend whom she makes believe she's pregnant, and a woman trying to break up with her violent husband. If this sounds like it would make for exciting drama, you'd disappointed. This is not a French or Italian movie. Instead we get to watch as these people go about being jerks and they do so rather silently. There isn't all that much dialogue here as the couples clearly don't understand each other and barely understand themselves. And the viewer quickly realizes that this movie will not go anywhere, hence, my reluctance to call them 3 "stories" as nothing really happens. Yes, there's a car crash that frames the entire movies at the beginning and end and given that someone dies in the crash, that opens up the possibility for things unraveling, settling. But that story isn't told here. We don't get to see the motivation for their actions either. The cheating wife, for instance, is engaging in what amounts a series of one night stands with the same man and even though their entire relationship centers on sex, their relationship is presented as if it is fulfilling some deep emotional need for her and yet the two rarely talk to each other. The lying girl, on the other hand, is surely willing to please her boyfriend, yet he cheats on her with an older woman for some reason, even though he seems to be thrilled to become a father. It will turn out that her jealousy is well founded because he is in fact cheating on her. The violent husband, who is also the funniest and most colorful character, is in such denial about their breakup, that episode is somewhat comical, as nothing the woman says can shake his conviction that they are supposed to be together because he loves her. The connections between the characters are somewhat forced and artificial. The cheater is a nurse, the liar is a clerk at a market where the nurse shops and runs into her often while smoking outside somewhere. The foreigner is cheating with the wife of the violent husband and will meet the nurse when his girl tries to commit suicide. Perhaps the one virtue of such a nihilistic movie is that it forces to viewer to seek meaning to fill the void and as such makes you ponder and try to get to the bottom of things or contemplate the possibilities. The DVD includes a great behind-the-scenes feature which is just that and nothing more. Unlike American movies where 10 minutes of behind the scenes is mixed with 20 minutes of movie scenes- as if watching the movie once weren't enough, this one is nothing but behind the scenes. Here you get to meet the director. And things become clearer. An ugly movie about ugly people can only be the product of an ugly man. And the writer/director is one ugly creepy little man. Surprisingly, there's even behind the scenes footage of the sex scenes. It's here of course that we learn all the little details and the meaning of each and what the director is up to. But that doesn't make the movie itself any more watchable. While these are all bad people doing bad things, it would seem that there are no victims, but there are children involved in 2 episodes and that does little to modify the people's behavior. The husband of the cheating wife also seems like an innocent victim here, although there's a scene of him watching his teen daughter for a long time as she dances in her room. That scene could be disturbing depending on how you interpret it, but fortunately, that is not developed.

Very Austrian, occasionally very good

[Horst_In_Translation · 6/10 · 30 September 2015]

"Antares" is not only a term from astronomy, it is also a Götz Spielmann movie from over 10 years ago. It rose a bit more to prominence lately again because Susanne Wuest plays one of the main characters and she also stars in the pretty popular recent Austrian horror film "Ich seh, Ich seh" by Ulrich Seidl. Anyway, Spielmann is known for this film here, but also for "Revanche", a 2008 drama movie that scored an Oscar nomination and turned Spielmann into one of the most important German-language movie makers if the 21st century.

"Antares" runs for almost 2 hours and is set in Austria as well. Almost all the actors are from this country and we watch stories about violence, lust, disappointment etc. The focus is really strong on love relationships as the lives of the protagonists are intertwined by (un)happy coincidence. I have to say I don't know any of the other actors, but I thought they all did a solid job, even if there were no real standouts and this description also fits the film as a whole. I never really felt for any of the characters, but maybe that's the idea that they have weaknesses and strengths and yet a truly unique personality and flaws. All in all, I would say that this is inferior to "Revanche", but it is still worth the watch. It is as bleak as most Austrian films these days, but this is by no means a negative characterization, just a description of style. A style that works. I recommend "Antares".

very close to Reality... in 2020.

[afterdarkpak · 7/10 · 9 January 2021]

Some solid performance and quality for 2004 Austrian cinema. the plot is simple straight forward about 3 stories which are connected to each other. A good movie but ending is not very satisfied / un-finished.

some sex scenes are very hot. seems like unsimulated one.

------------spoilers---------------

the 1st story about couple seems completed, about a cheating wife who lacks passion or desire from husband , so she goes for other man. and in the end. husband wants her back?.... simp..

2nd is not completed , about a gf who faked are pregnancy and her cheating bf. in the end she is ok with bf even she knows he is cheating ? .

3rd story is kinda completed , about abusive husband, karma hit him in end.

Well acted & produced ...that's about it

[JJ-Chi · 4/10 · 4 June 2021]

Solid believable acting and good production values ...but I couldn't care any less about any of the characters. The plot is jumbled, superficial and not very engaging. Nothing gets resolved and the ending was very disappointing ...but by then; I was glad it was over.

Penetratingly observed, life itself is sufficient to find meaning and differences

[Chris_Docker · 8/10 · 23 August 2005]

Antares gets its name from the ancient Greeks and means Anti-Ares. Ares is, of course, the God of War, also called Mars by the Romans. Antares is linked to the planet Mars because they are both about the same colour and brightness, so it is easy to get them confused. The official site tells us, "The film comprises three interconnected stories that are in a sense three 'Scorpio stories' with intense emotions, both positive and negative: sex, jealousy, violence, crisis and death." If you bear that in mind, it will give you a clue to the substance of this finely observed film, but the movie hooked me before I knew that, making fine comparisons that easily confound moral judgement.

Antares begins with a car crash (one that takes us quite unawares) and continues an intense pace for the first third of the movie, including explicit sex scenes. But the first story is that of Eva, a nurse, wife and mother. She becomes involved in an intensely passionate affair. The second story concerns a check-out girl, obsessively jealous of her partner who pastes billboards for a living, and lying to him to ensure his 'love'. The final story concerns a divorced couple where the man will not let go and the wife has started seeing someone else. The three stories fully intertwine only at the end.

Each story involves a couple and a third party, none are 'whiter than white'. But there are important differences, not least in how we view and judge them. Using 'truth' as a yardstick gets us nowhere as none of them are particularly honest – although the most violent person (the abusive husband of the last story) is probably the least dishonest. In the first couple (a white collar family, listening to Schubert, raising a teenage daughter with love and care), we somehow feel that the infidelity is less 'wrong' than in the later example. It might even be the safety valve, without which the couple (who communicate politely but not very effectively) would have reached breaking point, hurting everyone but especially the child. In the second example, both partners are trying to control the other and we instinctively feel they are more selfish and less sympathetic. A yardstick becomes, who is hurt? What was the intention to hurt or nurture? Their motives to each other seem shallower, their methods more devious, they are less likable. They are also less interesting – given that this film will appeal to a highbrow audience, do we judge them worse because they are poor and less intelligent? But then we see the third scenario – a brutal, dangerous husband. Can the wife be blamed that she has 'moved on'? the husband is externally convincing, but we learn he has raped and beaten her and she is in fear of him. His 'reality' is a different one to hers. Compared to the billboard-poster, who seemed such a reprobate a minute ago, he is a monster.

Notice how our perceptions and judgements of the characters are altered as well by the use of nudity in different ways, by the use of humour (a person seems less 'bad' when they are funny, irrespective of the facts), and by our comparisons with 'better' and 'worse' individuals. Trying to make moral judgements becomes a very confusing affair, but most people will be able to distinguish between the non-violent and almost loving deception of the first couple compared to the violent triangle of the last story. The effective attempt to 'do the right thing' in spite of overriding passions manifests itself differently.

If you found movies like Closer intriguing as a moral primer, take Antares on for a more difficult conundrum. It takes someone of considerable skill to weave such a tapestry effectively, and Götz Spielmann distinguishes himself in Antares as a director of profound insight, considerable talent and great artistic integrity.

Everyone is awful and miserable.

[TokyoGyaru · 1/10 · 1 January 2021]

First off, the only reason I watched this is because the listing said it was in German (though I think the film is Austrian) and I rarely watch European films that aren't from the U.K. or France. In the first story, everything and everyone is utterly robotic, impersonal, and empty (even the sex). What's the point of even bothering with the sex when it's so meaningless and grimey? I suspect that people are giving this film more credit than it deserves because of the explicit sex in the first story, but they're gross, older people with flat, unimpressive bodies being increasingly weird. In the second story, we have a pair of selfish, co-dependent liars (one of which is constantly unpleasant and insecure) who shouldn't be together and don't actually even seem to be in love. You wonder why they even bother. In the third story, there are more miserable, unlikable people but worse because one is a rude, violent, woman-hating, bigoted sleazeball, and his wife can't manage to keep her doggone door closed to him even though she has no real reason to let him in. She keeps telling him it's over but keeps letting him in--why?? None of it moved me, though I committed to finishing it, but I just couldn't care less about the empty, unlikable shells of people. I can see why it got less favorable reviews by critics elsewhere.

S/N: The daughter's dancing is as emotionless and robotic and awful as her parents' relationship.

I love it

[jonni62 · 10/10 · 6 April 2005]

Antares is based on secrets and lies in the classic Austrian style, we know from directors Michael Haneke and Ulrich Seidl. Antares focuses on three women, whose paths cross in a building complex. A married nurse who has a lover that hardly speaks. The lover is only interested in sex and taking nude pictures of her. The sex and pictures are a tad explicit. The other is a young girl who is lying to her boyfriend that she is pregnant. The boyfriend is happy, but that does not stop him from sleeping with the third woman, a divorced woman who has problems getting rid of her ex-husband. The three destinies bond together in a refined way.

authentic !

[MattDevivre · 8/10 · 27 April 2009]

With little budget (as the Austrian movie "industry" unfortunately has) obviously a director has to walk with different shoes than Hollywood. "Antares" is a good example of how to make the best of it.

In my point of view very often certain narrative concepts become so much in the thick of things, that characters turn secondary (I don't mean to say I don't like pictures which walk that way). IMO it is refreshing to see movies which succeed not to abstract too much, movies which do not take away too much from their characters because for example various storytelling concepts are requiring it.

With "Antares" for ~115minutes you get insight into various living conditions in Austria before something crucial happens. You see how people are, what their main problem is. And yes of course there is a clear idea behind this picture, but as I said before this idea is not imposed on the viewers. Solitude and isolation are crucial topics in "Antares". The entanglement of life's is another.

No doubt in a way several directors in this world have dealt with these very human aspects already. Only I haven't seen any other dealing with it in such genuineness like Spielmann - especially I haven't seen many other films from my country which managed to do that !

In a short: Authentic and real characters. Terrific writing and terrific acting. I especially enjoy the cynicism.All adds up to a real good austrian movie.

Synthetic, but utterly hypnotic

[dave-sturm · 8/10 · 27 February 2010]

Gotz Spielmann is a true auteur. His film-making style is instantly recognizable, weaving a spell. What's going on in front of the camera can be merely someone shutting a door, a couple having explicit sex, a violent car crash, two people having an argument, but that camera is not moving. This makes you highly aware of everything in the frame and everything is there for a reason. You notice colors, especially white, black and red. Virtually no music, except some smoky sax over the credits. His constant use of medium shots remind you that you are not "there," you are just an observer.

The movie portrays a highly contrived, but nevertheless convincing, story on the theme of sexual betrayal. Three couples who live in the same apartment building (but do not know each other) are introduced and their stories are told, one at a time. We meet a very reserved nurse and mother who is having a passionate affair behind her husband's back. Then, a supermarket checkout clerk, not emotionally stable, who has falsely told her Yugoslavian boyfriend that she is pregnant in hopes of hanging on to him. Finally, a divorced woman dealing with a racist and thuggish ex-husband who won't let go.

As the movie progresses, odd events get explained. Once, a couple walking in the courtyard hear a woman scream. Later in the movie we see the scene of the screaming woman.

The movie generates an enormous amount of suspense as it unfolds. Will the nurse confess to her husband? Will the checkout clerk come clean about her false pregnancy? Will the divorced woman be seriously harmed by her increasingly erratic ex-husband? As the last question, it is answered in a harrowing psychological confrontation that will have you on the edge of your seat. What people are eating and where they eat it also seems to matter.

It leave it to others to explain the meaning of the roses in a vase, the dog trainer, the hooker on the corner and other apparent signifiers in the film.

If you liked this, be sure to check out Spielmann's "Revanche," which is even better.

Three interwoven stories of lust in a Viennese tenement

[maurice_yacowar · 8/10 · 27 July 2015]

The interlocking sexual relationships here find their unifying metaphor in a minor incident shown in long shot, without emphasis. A man trains his dog to fetch, to heel, to leap up and wrestle for a stick. The man's relationship with his dog replays the issues of control in the three human stories. But the human relationships are all complicated by the power of sexuality. That's why — as the old man with a mysterious disease remarks — people make fools of themselves.

The nurse's husband finds his passion in classical music. So she's ripe for a wild affair with a traveling salesman, where they experiment with blindfolding, exhibitionism and an increasingly daring pleasure. Both lovers are overwhelmed by heir sexual connection; they hardly speak. The lover's pleasure in his erotic photos of her contrasts to her husband's walls of classical CDs. They are symptomatically different collectors. His control threatened, the husband erupts when her ostensible night duty interrupts their planned concert, then when a real estate agent stands them up. Their young teen daughter has her own music, to which she practices sultry dancing, exploring her approaching womanhood.

The young blonde cashier exercises a different power, faking pregnancy to win her Yugoslavian boyfriend's commitment to marry her. Her fits of anger and jealousy appear to bring him to heel. In fact, he walks her dog as a way to meet his more amenable mistress. But the girl is more damaged and controlled by her moods than her fiancé is, even if he does return after her suicide attempt.

His mistress is herself struggling to remain free from her violent, obsessive ex. Swaggering, boastful, pleading love and claiming superior understanding, the real estate agent forces himself on her and punches out his rival. Mercifully, he kills himself in the traffic accident that pulls the separate stories together. He's destroyed by his delusions of manly power, as the blonde is by her manipulative moods that damage her more than her guy. Only the nurse succeeds because — as a healer — she has found what she needs to live fully and follows her prescription. Like her dancing daughter, the nurse uses her sexuality to fulfil herself.

The stories are set in an ugly dense housing complex in Vienna. All the stories of animal vitality and the struggle for control play against that dehumanizing setting. Indeed the classical music fan wants to move out, perturbed by the genital graffiti on the elevator walls. His wife finds at least an emotional escape. The violence in all three stories is limned in the title, which suggests the anti-Ares, the opposition to the god of war, the passion of sex and love, which can be as destructive yet more fulfilling. Beats having an obedient dog.

Interesting modern Austrian film

[robtanson · 8/10 · 28 December 2016]

There is comedy and tragedy, and I enjoyed it. There are beautiful women, and the men are true enough to real life. Cynicism is the theme. Coincidence is the necessary gimmick for tying the three soapers. It is a deep portrayal of modern folkways and mores. Because I as an American had to read subtitles, I missed many nuances. Deceit is certainly omnipresent. Human beings are imperfect, because nothing that I know is without a downside.

It's a jungle out here.

Human wrecks and car wrecks aren't rare.

If you are happy, you ought not fool with cynically minded reviewers a la me, but thanks.

It has been an awful 2016, and our new president will soon take power--rots of ruck.

.

This film is not happy ever after.

This film isn't consoling nor redemptive.

This film captures some of the absurdity of life, and that's why I like European portrayals of reality.

This film is not warm and fuzzy nor phony, and does deserve the recognition it achieved.

I am sure it bothers folks because it is so harsh.

Unfortunately life is not a fairy tale.

Warning, Hollywood corniness it ain't.

They want ten lines, so I have to be redundant, and such finagling is about our reality too.