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Reviews
David Wants to Fly (2010)
A refreshingly unpretentious film.
A young director, who adores David Lynch, wants to learn transcendental meditation. He approaches TM with an unbiased naivety which is slightly shocking. But soon he detects more and more discrepancies in the TM organisation. The TM guys, including Mr Lynch, who at first were very cooperative, now want him to stop filming. When Sieveking begins to meet TM renegades, the organisation gets outright hostile. Lynch threatens to sue him. The film, however, stays pure record-keeping of events. And Sieveking turns to the source. He flies to India to visit the monastery where Marashiri learned his meditation. The successor of Marashiri's teacher says that Marashiri was a crook who had no right to teach meditation and sends Sieveking to the spring of the Ganges for enlightenment. Again, Sieveking does not challenge the words of the guru. The film takes the viewer on a journey. It's Sieveking's journey. Sieveking has not tried to edit the earlier material in the light of his later experiences. And exactly that is what makes this documentary so lively.
Villmark (2003)
No emotion, no atmosphere
The story is crude - but hey we're in a horror movie. There is enough suspense in it - but the actors can't contribute any depth to the story. The conflicts between the members of the group are not made visible - but I forgot we're in a horror movie. Photographically, the film is a disaster. You can either do a horror movie with fully artificial pictures or you do it the pseudo-documentary way. This film seems to sit on the fence. It has the look and feel of a TV production. What a waste. It is set in a remote part of Norway. The film should make the viewer aware of this remoteness. It does nothing like this. It is far too hectic. You need longer shots to build up the right atmosphere. Outside of the hut but also inside. What's wrong with a moment of reflection, anyway?
L'ennui (1998)
Unsettling & important
This movie is pure torture for the viewer. But it is extremely important as well. It reflects on the power relationship between men and women. Power is exercised by sex. The erect male member reduces the woman to a slave. Here the young girl reverses the process by simply ignoring it. All all-consuming vagina turns the power relationship around. He wants to control her, to own her - not only her body but also her mind. She gives him her body but also utilizes his body for her needs. When he is unable to get control of her, he loses control of his own life. I'm glad to have watched this movie but I surely won't watch it again.
Devot (2003)
When suspense and art meet each other...
The movie is an intimate play with only two actors. (Tomek Piotrowski appears only for a few seconds). What we see is a dangerous cat-and-mouse play between a girl and a man. He met her at night on a bridge. Did she want to jump? He stops his car and she pretends to be a whore. He takes her with him. What happens is an inscrutable game of violence, sex, dominance and submission. Annett Renneberg and Simon Boer do a superb job. They are convincing in a story which has a surreal touch. The movie claims to be a psycho thriller and it is indeed thrilling right to the end. Well, the end actually is the weakest part of the story but this film still is highly recommendable.
Underworld (2003)
Dark but hollow
Len Wiseman took the topic of vampires and werewolves into the neutral zone. Like a Japanese Manga artist he claims total ignorance of the Christian superstitions and history linked to it. That moves the film into the genre of pure action. It also helps that there is no real screenplay. Although the plot contains a nice turn where our our first impressions are betrayed, the story is quite simple. The acting is lousy but Kate Beckinsale looks gorgeous in her tight leather suit. There is a lot of shooting and - later on - fighting. The movie would be a total loss if it weren't for the visuals. In fact, the whole picture is just a long video clip. Its the artistic use of special effects and the creation of dark, impressive images - although bordering on kitsch - which lift the movie just above the average of this genre.