1991 movieRating: 17/20
Plot: World War II has ended and idealistic American Leopold arrives in Germany. His German uncle gets him a job as a "sleeping car conductor," and while training for the job, he falls in love with the daughter of the owner of the railroad. He soon finds himself in the middle of a conflict between occupying Allied forces and some Nazi terrorists called Werewolves. It hurts his job performance.
Lars von Trier recently said, "I am the best film director in the world." I'm not even paraphrasing or taking him out of context. That's what he said and that's what he meant. Whenever I watch his movies, I can almost hear him whispering that from behind me. I'll be watching a scene, maybe even mesmerized by a scene, and I'll hear him whisper, "Psst. Shane, I am the best film director in the world." That's why I'm almost always ready to hate his movies. And while he is pretentious, manipulative, and artsy-fartsy, the movies are at the very least interesting and more often than not really good. Ten minutes into this one (which my brother recommended), I thought, "Finally! A Lars von Trier movie I can trash." But gradually, the hypnotic narration (literally here), the film's mesmerizing style, and the Kafka-esque story sucked me in. There's a sort of second-person narration that puts you in the center of the noirish thriller, and even if you don't really like the main character or if the actor who plays him isn't very good, you still identify with him. The narration, with some creepy background music, also sets the tone and creates this ambiance for the rest of the film. The rest of the film is stylistic, likely a love-it-or-hate-it type feel, that fits the noirish story perfectly. Crisp black and white with occasional red splashes, double exposure (or whatever it's called...the actors are clearly acting in front of screens most of the time), and striking imagery lend a unique feel to this one. Lots of stylistic trickery going on here, but I never saw through it. My only gripe would be with the acting which seems really awkward and lifeless at times. Still, this is a really good movie that won't be easy to forget.
This might be called Zentropa in America. I'm not sure why that'd be the case though.
I agree completely with your review, except for the grade. I got the sense that color defined the really important moments in his memory. Was the narrator God? Or an ex-psychiatrist angel?
ReplyDeleteThe acting was erratic (the Colonel friend actually sucked) and I was very bummed when the boy died, but the style definitely carries this film. A 15.
note:(I'm into notes lately) I was looking for a Netflix film to stream this morning, but I have no idea why I had this on queue. Was it a "five"?
What other von Trier movies have you seen? The guy irritates me...so artsy-fartsy.
ReplyDeleteI think the acting was bad in spots because of the film style. I'm sure the were acting in front of screens a lot of the time, and it seemed like they were acting out their lines alone, no other actors to bounce lines off. I got that impression at least.
This wasn't a "five," but I would have had no problems with it being one.
You are probably right about the acting, though the worst offender was the guy who played Colonel Harris, and he had no excuse except he sucked.
ReplyDeleteThe only other film I have seen from the World's greatest director was "Breaking the Waves", a critical darling that I didn't care much for. I thought it was poorly directed.