Change Your Image
socialme-52863
Reviews
Waking Life (2001)
An Invitation not an Answer
The film is often accused of being pretentious. That the philosophical questions that are presented are discussed at a shallow level and not intellectually exhaustively. But how educated can someone be who seriously expects a film to come up with the answers that fill entire libraries to this day - and still aren't sufficient? How clever can someone be who believes he has already found the answers to the questions in this film, understood them, or can measure their value or validity?
This film is an invitation. An invitation to a dialogue. With yourself or with the person you are watching the film with. This film is a question. Not an answer. It is neither a bible nor a self-help course for coping with life crises, nor is it a collection of writings by great philosophical masters. This film is an invitation to think, philosophise, ponder and reflect. Something that most of us do too little of as we stumble blindly and numbly through life.
This film is good in a way, like an intriguing talk with a friend. Just as the best conversations are good because of the dialogue, the exchange of ideas and thoughts in the flow of the moment, and not because there is a proclamation at the end. These talks are rewarding and fulfilling despite this, or precisely because of their unfinished state.
Anyone searching for meaning will find many leads in this film, but no finite answers. But then again, every change in a new direction begins with the first step. Go on a journey, or just enjoy the ride of thoughts for the duration of this film.
You can criticise the film stylistically and narratively, but anyone who denies the value of what this film inspires people to do should watch it again. But the second time with an open mind instead of a pretentious one.
The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun (2021)
A visual masterpiece with chracters larger than life
One of the best films I have seen in recent years. For me, next to Grand Budapest Hotel, the best Anderson. I can't understand the criticism that it is too whimsical at all. Each short story was beautifully told and easy to follow. I often feel by now that due to the flat narrative of the 100th Marvel or Star Wars film many are no longer able to process, let alone enjoy, films that don't drag you through the story on a nose ring. Let alone the ones that dare to choose a different narrative than the shortest one from A to B.
This film is a feast for the eyes. There were several frames where I just paused and tried to take in the complex and nostalgic beauty I was looking at. There are so many more frames that you could take and put them directly on a wall. Its unique, often romantic and nostalgic atmosphere and its quirky characters were a great experience that stayed with me for a long time after watching the movie.
Encounter (2021)
Great film that suffers from false expectations
The film is really great for what it is and wants to be. It is something different from most people expect. But in the end, it's what the film is in itself that counts, not what you expect. It makes me a bit sad to see that such a hidden Gem gets bad reviews because people expect something different, and not because the film itself is bad. It's absolutely not!
Many people are apparently no longer able to get involved with something, to let something unpredictable happen, and to appreciate a film that tries something new. This goes unfamiliar ways to tell a familiar story-and it is, willing, to undermine the audience's expectations in order to do so. Whereby this is far more than a gimmick, it is part of the process of putting oneself in the place of the main character.
If you are willing to accept this, if you can get involved, you will see a very well told emotional film about family, mental illness and the relationship of a father to his sons. All three characters are played phenomenally. How natural the acting of the child actors is cannot be emphasized enough. It adds greatly to the impact of the film. Add to this an excellent, subtle soundtrack that is skilfully woven into the play with genres.
Conclusion: An insider tip for those who see it as enrichment and not as a betrayal when a film takes unpredictable paths.
Elephant (2003)
Hard to endure
This is one of the most disturbing and sad movies I have ever seen. 90% of the 81 minutes run time are used, so you get to know the kids in their everyday school life. After you got to know them, in the last few minutes of the film happens what you know will happen. Since this film, while it's school and characters are fictional, is based on the real life events of the1999 Columbine High School massacre.
Still, it felt like an unexpected punch into the stomach, like actual physical pain since you got to know these children so well throughout the movie, and you know that this really happened. Time and time again, actually over time. In many different schools, to many different murdered children, while the pain of the traumatized families and incomprehensibility of such events is always the same. Their deaths of these movie characters feel real, and the disturbing feeling that this experience leaves you behind with might accompany you for several days.
It is a very well-made film that makes you strongly emphasize with the murdered children and their families. I encourage everyone to see it, and I never want to see it again.
The Haunting of Hill House (2018)
Great start, deep fall
A good start
This miniseries starts off very well. The combination of classical haunted house suspense horror and family drama works great for the first half of the series and kept me glued to the screen. The characters are well written, each with a believable, distinct personality. The children actors do a fine job for the most part, too.
Even though the characters' behaviour would be absolutely implausible in the real world, it works for the sake of the story. Just a general example: No one, especially the children, would stay in a house like that longer than 48h. No responsible, loving parent would expose their children that kind of horror, even if they think it's imagined. When 3 out of 4 children have constant nightmares and freak out on a daily basis because of the things they see/imagine and when they obviously get traumatized, you would leave, no matter how profitable that renovation job might be. But of course this is still a horror series, so for the sake of the story it has to be like that.
Downfall
Still, in the 6th episode, the series takes a sudden turn to bad character writing and development that is beyond the point that you have to accept some irrational behaviour for the story to happen. This key episode takes place in Shiley's funeral home and in a flash back to an certain night, in the Hill House. I have no idea what happened script wise, but the characters' behaviour becomes outright ridiculous-even for a horror series like that. Not because it's unrealistic, but it doesn't fit the personalties that were developed until this point. Or to rephrase it, they become so exaggerated that it's laughable. That is especially true for the past versions of the parents during that storm scene. The parents act like nothing suspicious has ever happen in this house before. Even when the Husband Hugh, who to this point tried to rationalize all the things the children told him, is looking for his wife Olivia and experiences things that are obviously physically impossible, he doesn't even bat an eye.
During the part in the funeral home, the family members act like they don't know each other: they all have some kind of break down one after the other, and nothing that happened between these characters to this point in the story seems to play a role. Neither do any of the weird things that happen in the funeral home upset any of them the slightest, despite their traumatizing experiences in the past, nor does anyone of them mention the things they see to the others. They act like blank pages, and thus the conflicts that arise feel forced. These conflicts need the support of a lot of cryptic answers and stammering by the characters to work. It was really annoying to watch from this moment. The characters that I found to be somewhat interesting turn into crudely comic roles.
That made me actually angry because I enjoyed the show to this point. I was engaged in the story and its conclusion that might come, but I was surprised by a sudden quality breakdown and characters that became so ridiculous and unbelievable that I didn't want to continue watching. I tried anyway, but the characters and their interactions became even more ridiculous.
The plot, logic errors and inconsistencies
Plotwise, I am ambiguous. The arc of the story, explained many things we see in the very first episode, in a somewhat clever way, by showing it from a different perspective. I loved the twist that the bent neck lady little Nell saw all her life was actually her future ghost self. The overall inherent logic of this world is very flawed, though. Too many things are not explained in the end or just don't make sense. Why is one ghost 3 m tall and hovering, when all other ghosts are naturalistic representations of their living selves? What happened after the hovering ghost found Luke under the bed and if nothing happened, why are they still afraid of the ghosts? Why do they see only members of the Hill family and never the other dozen of ghosts that are shown from time to time in the background? Who was banging against the wall of Shileys room and why? Who is the ghost in the scene when the model of the forever house is destroyed, and why is it broken in the first place? Why and where can the ghosts go? It seems like they are bound to the Hill House, but from time to time can appear wherever they want. Streets, motels, apartments etc. Why does Shiley see the man she had an affair with, like he was a ghost or really there?
Incoherent character behaviour
Why doesn't anyone ever sees Abigail when she is on the Hill property? It's not like she was hiding. In one scene little Luke and her can be seen sitting on the lawn in the open. Why did the Dudly family never, ever mentioned they have a daughter? It would be the most natural thing to mention, especially if you have kids the same age as your employee. Abigail's death, therefore, feels forced artificial. Which leads me to the next incoherent character behaviour:
The mother Olivia Crain is responsible not only for the death of her own grown daughter Nell. She also wanted to kill young Luke and Nell, and she killed Abigail, but that doesn't seem to effect any of the other characters in their attitude toward her. Not the father/her husband and not the Dudleys who tried to protect their only daughter at all costs. After already having lost one child and their employee brutally poisoning the other one, they went like "huh, that's fine. We still can visit our daughters' ghosts in the spooky ruin!" - incoherent and laughable. Same goes for the husband, Hugh Crain. His wife pushed their daughter into suicide, tried to kill both of their children, and murdered a third one, but still he reacts as if Olivia was till the loveable person he once knew and decide to stay with her. Nell also never brings it up toward her, that it was her to made her commit suicide. They just decide to be a happy ghost family, now.
Tension and suspense
For the most part, the atmosphere created is awesome and this is crucial for a horror series. There is tension in even the most benign and trivial scenes. The mansion, with its gloomy lightning and sinister vibes, gives you the creeps, and you expect to see a ghost around every corner, or in the background, which luckily doesn't happen too often. So the shock effects remain for some time. There were some scenes, I actually had goosebumps all over my body just because of my expectation of what might happen. What an awesome experience and testament to the great suspense created!
BUT the scares are all done in the same way over and over again. A character is somewhere, most of the time somewhere in the dark and alone. Some dead person appears. The character is screaming, or the ghost is screaming. The dead person disappears. End of scene. Cut. You never see what happens in between. Which for some scenes like when the "Hat man" discovers Luke under the bed would have been crucial.
If screaming is so effective to scare the ghosts away-even though the dead people are screaming themselves from time to time too, just keep screaming, maybe? The pattern of those encounters makes them foreseeable and repetitive, and the suspense wears off after a few episodes.
Conclusion
Overall, the series began promising with an interesting connection of suspense horror, family conflicts and (childhood) trauma, which takes inspiration from other suspense masterpieces like The 6th sense, The Others, or The Orphanage. The film created a great atmosphere in between the beginning and the end. But the plot falls off in the middle and in the end fails to tell a coherent story with likewise coherent character development. Still enjoyable, but far from perfect and even more disappointing since it started so well!
25 km/h (2018)
Heartwarming roadmovie through Germany
This movie made me regret that I never had a brother that left me alone with our terminally ill father, so I can reconnect with said brother.
Great acting by the main protagonists. While the movie is a light road movie-comedy, the connection or should I say disconnection between the brothers feels real. So does the reconnection of the two, which doesn't come as a surprise. There are no plot twists, or big surprises, but that doesn't matter: The journey through Germany and the Brother's past is the goal. The movie is beautifully shot at times and the soundtrack is great too. Enjoy the ride!
Babylon Berlin (2017)
Best series I have watched to this day!
... and I don't say this just because I am actually from Berlin. The story and even more so the characters are so incredibly well written that you can never be sure, where the plot is heading or if you should root for someone or hate him. The protagonists, the "good guys" have weaknesses, flaws and sometimes behave in very unlikable ways. The "bad guys", the antagonists on the other hand, have relatable motivations for their actions and also come across as likable at times. They show gestures of love, selflessness, compassion, and loyalty. The characters in "Babylon Berlin" are as complex as the political situation in Berlin during the late 1920 when the series takes place. If you are familiar with that period in Berlin history, you will notice how elegantly major historical events and their foreshadowing or historical figures are woven into the story. At the same time, you won't have problems to understand what is happening if you have no knowledge of this part of German History. As others mentioned, this is the most expensive German series ever made-and it shows in every scene.
As a Berliner, as a nerd for 1920s politics and culture in Berlin and last but not least as a lover of well written plots and characters I have nothing but praise for this series and I urge you to watch it!