Vera lives in the shadow of her famous father. Tired of her superficial life and relationships, she drifts through Roman high society. When she injures a child in a traffic accident in the suburbs, she forms an intense relationship with an eight-year-old boy and his father. But soon she must realize that also in this world she is only an instrument for others.Read More »
Kurt and Lydia are planning a relaxed vacation at the Gripsholm castle in Sweden . What Lydia does not know is that for Kurt, a well-known publicist, the journey is actually a flight from encroaching fascism and a direct threat from the Nazis.
The film takes us deep into the shady, pleasure-seeking cabaret world of Berlin at the beginning of the 1930’s, where “open season” has been declared on the last remaining bourgeois taboos, and the few remaining fig leaves of modesty are about to be swept away. Kurt, a campaigning journalist and satirist who has become a celebrity thanks to the rather saucy lyrics he has written for the songs of various shows has set off with his girlfriend Lydia, his princess, on a journey to Gripsholm castle in Sweden, in the course of a seemingly endless summer. Two friends, the fashionable variety show singer Billie and a temperamental aviator who goes by the name of Karlchen join them briefly on the holiday in Sweden. Erotic impulses inevitably lead to complications in their relationships.Read More »
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In a moment of ordinary madness, three girlfriends decide to shoot a burqa music video.Read More »
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Ewald moved to Romania years ago. Now in his 40s, he seeks a fresh start. Leaving his girlfriend, he moves to the hinterland. With young boys from the area, he transforms a decaying school into a fortress. The children enjoy a new, carefree existence. But the distrust of the villagers is soon awoken. And Ewald is forced to confront a truth he has long suppressed. Sparta is the brother film to Rimini, and the conclusion of Ulrich Seidl’s diptych about the inescapability of the past and the pain of finding yourself.Read More »
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In this evocative work, we hear and see the interactions of a man and a woman in a pristine forest. We gain a sense of intimacy with them and nature. Suddenly we leave the worries of our scattered lives and begin to remember the primal elements of existence: earth, wind, fire, water, people, and creation. This epiphanic process demands patience and an almost meditative state, but it is so worth the effort – just as a journey a mountain meadow requires some effort in order to find its treasures.Read More »
The death of his mother brings Richie Bravo back from his adopted home in Italy to his teenage bedroom in Lower Austria, where Charlton Heston is still flexing his biceps and Winnetou is still alive.Read More »
John Gruber is in his mid thirties, an egocentric, living life in the fast lane and sparing no expense. But all of a sudden he is thrown off track by a cancer diagnosis and by the person who unwillingly delivers the news: Sarah, a DJane from Berlin, who is not his type at all. Feelings just aren’t Gruber’s cup of tea and now, without having asked for them, he has more than ever before.
3 wins, 7 nominationsRead More »
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Dog Days is an incredible film, though what it has to offer will certainly not be appreciated by every viewer. This is not to be meant as condescending – I simply mean not everyone will enjoy Ulrich Seidl’s aesthetics which have more than a little in common with Von Trier’s Domga 95 movement. Though Seidl doesn’t explicitly articulate his aesthetics the way Von Trier does, it features the same sense of realism. The characters are mostly non-actors wearing their own clothes and without makeup (except where diegetically necessary). The acting is very raw with many scenes calling for displays of intense emotional pain. There is no non-diegetic music. The film is shot entirely with hand-held DV. The film is, however, very aesthetically appealing. There are many beautiful, sun-drenched compositions, even if all the characters are sweating!Read More »
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There is not much that Ruth Beckermann brings to her film: An empty former coffin factory, a few lights and reflectors, a camera, a piano and a huge rose-gold canapé in the style of the Belle Epoque, as well as the wickedly titled book – and, of course, above all, men. Lots and lots of men. Old, young, middle-aged. Bourgeois and civil servant types, pensioners and washed-up people of indeterminate age, students and “young professionals”, people who have lost their way and smart up-and-comers. In between, the former director of the Austrian Film Museum, an ex-bodybuilder or martial artist, a linnet and various other specimens of the male species.Read More »