Hot Picks
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Enfant Terrible
Germany 2020
produced by Stefan Arndt, Uwe Schott, Markus Zimmer for X-Filme Creative Pool, Bavaria, BR, WDR, Arte
directed by Oskar Roehler
starring Oliver Masucci, Hary Prinz, Katja Riemann, Felix Hellmann, Anton Rattinger, Erdal Yildiz, Markus Hering, Michael Klammer, Frida-Lovisa Hamann, Jochen Schropp, Lucas Gregorowicz, Simon Böer, Antoine Monot jr, Désirée Nick, Michael Ostrowski, Isolde Barth, André Hennicke, Eva Mattes, Detlef Bothe, David Bredin, Götz Otto, Sunnyi Melles, Christian Berkel, Alexander Scheer, Meike Droste, Wilson Gonzalez, Ralf Richter, Norbert Ghafouri, Thomas Wasik, Roland Silbernagl, Barbara Köhler, Ingo van Gulijk, Marcus Michael Mies, Simon Licht, Wolfgang Menardi, Marie-Luise Lux, Christian Bojidar Müller, Ali Aschtari, Mohamad Fares, Christoph Bautz, Björn Jung, Juri Senft, Gerry Jochum, Frank Rafael Bosse, Christian Schramm, Thilo Prothmann, Erika Fischer-Laughlin, Stephan Runge, Carl Bruchhäuser, Manuel Fernandez, Yael Hahn, Ariella Hirshfeld, Charles De Moura, Johannes Kühn, Manuel Gaubatz, Judith Paus, Miguel Abrantes Ostrowski, Saralisa Volm
story by Klaus Richter, Oskar Roehler, screenplay by Klaus Richter, music by Martin Todsharow
review by Mike Haberfelner
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In the late 1960s, a young Rainer Werner Fassbinder (Oliver Masucci)
leaves his mark on the Munich theatre scene, putting on many a
controversial play, but he realizes even then that it's films where his
future lies. So with his loyal troupe of followers he makes the transition
- with some success, too. However, from early on is that he can't keep his
private and professional life apart, and thus has the habit of casting his
respective boyfriends - be that Ulli Lommel (Lucas Gregorowicz), Günther
Kaufmann (Michael Klammer), El Hedi ben Salem (Erdal Yildiz) or Armin
Meier (Jochen Schropp) - regardless of their talents (or lack of), while
keeping his longtime friend and almost-lover Kurt Raab (Hary Prinz) at
bay. He also lets his filmmaking being controlled by his mental state and
thus has days where he just insults everyone on set, and he's no stranger
to mental cruelty either, but on the other hand is allergic to criticism.
Also his growing fame, like the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival
and awards in sub-categories in both Cannes and Venice, doesn't do him any
good as it not only feeds his ego in an unhealthy way but also because it
brings with it money, pressure, and easy access to drugs. At the same
time, the suicides of two of his lovers hit him harder than he'd ever
admit openly. So ultimately he gets more and more erratic on set, really
drives away all but the most loyal of his entourage, and ultimately proves
to be on a downward spiral there's no escape from ... Now doing
a bio-pic on a director as iconic and eccentric as Rainer Werner
Fassbinder is risky business for sure, as dry, factual realism simply
wouldn't do the man and artist any justice. This film rather elegantly
circumvents this dilemma by setting much of the film in a less-than-real
world with much played out in front of crudely painted-on sets, by using
dialogue directly lifted from Fassbinder's movies to intentionally break
the barrier between fact and fiction, and by choosing an emotional over
factual approach - all of which Fassbinder would have in all probability
readily approved of. That said, the film as such doesn't live up to
Fassbinder in approach, as it's direct where Fassbinder was always subtle,
its political agenda seems almost mainstream now while it was considered
revolutionary and controversial back in Fassbinder's day (after all 4 to 5
decades do make a difference when it comes to controversy), and the film
doesn't seem nearly as multi-layered as Fassbinder's oeuvre as a whole is
- but that said, it's still a very well-told and (especially for a
bio-pic) well-structured drama that dares to take chances while never
forgetting to entertain, and maybe most importantly that makes one curious
to check out some of Fassbinder's own output - which alone would already
be worth the price of admission.
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review © by Mike Haberfelner
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Robots and rats,
demons and potholes, cuddly toys and shopping mall Santas,
love and death and everything in between,
Tales to Chill Your Bones to is all of that.
Tales to Chill Your Bones to -
a collection of short stories and mini-plays ranging from the horrific to the darkly humourous,
from the post-apocalyptic to the weirdly romantic,
tales that will give you a chill and maybe a chuckle,
all thought up by the twisted mind of screenwriter and film reviewer Michael Haberfelner.
Tales to Chill Your Bones to
the new anthology by Michael Haberfelner
Out now from Amazon!!! |
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