Der Wald vor lauter Bäumen

This is certainly an interesting film. I discovered this film by accident at my local blockbuster store.At first as another viewer had mentioned found it difficult to get used to the camera format at first. The movie experience was almost like getting sucked into a novel possibly a modern day Camus perhaps.The story also perhaps was focusing on the lack of a social support structure in modern societies. The alienation and loneliness is realized through the character of Melanie in depth. The ending was open to interpretation by the viewer and i am guessing that she is moving on from her teaching position to one which might be more fulfilling. Overall a good job.

Eva Loebau plays Melanie, an almost socially retarded young teacher who moves to Karlsruhe to begin her career. Her shyness and painfully embarrassing inability to read people makes for one social and career error after another.

She awkwardly befriends a hip and attractive neighbor and then, with her pathetic neediness and constant visits (not to mention her failure to understand subtle interpersonal cues) drives the neighbor to hate her. This, coupled with her legion of problems at work, precipitates Melanie's mental breakdown.

The subject matter, direction, and Loebau's acting makes the film VIBRATE with unease and tension which makes parts of the film almost impossible to watch. Add to this the fact that it was shot on video, giving it a "you are there" realism, and you may need a shot of homemade schnapps to keep from squirming.

A.

Melanie's problem isn't that she's lonely and lacks social skills, or that other people refuse to reach out and help her; it's that she's a sociopath. Here's the dictionary definition of a sociopath: "A person with an antisocial personality disorder, manifested in aggressive, perverted, criminal, or amoral behavior without empathy or remorse."

Melanie lies constantly; she almost never tells the truth even when there's no good reason not to, as when asked what her plans are for the evening or the holidays.

She aggressively invades other people's lives with no sense of interpersonal boundaries, of other people's right to live their own lives without her. She invades social gatherings to which she has been told she is not invited, and she shuns those to which she HAS been invited. She stalks, spies, listens outside doors and windows, pushes her way into other people's houses.

She never sees anything wrong in her OWN behavior - the problem is always somebody else's failure to give her what she needs. She is entirely consumed by her own needs and completely blind to anyone else's needs. She has no business teaching children. She needs intensive psychiatric treatment.

She does NOT need for other people to be more compassionate toward her. They ARE compassionate, but she either rejects them because she finds them unattractive (Thorsten) or pursues them and violates their privacy so aggressively (Tina) that she kills their compassion.

None of these are signs of a normal but shy person, or of a person who simply hasn't had much practice socializing with other people. These are signs of a person with a serious, deep-rooted and potentially dangerous personality disorder. The fact that even her own mother doesn't want to talk to her shows that her behavior problems did NOT suddenly begin when she moved to Karlsruhe and her new job.

She needs a good shrink, not friends. In her present state, she's incapable of friendship or any other normal personal relationship.

This is a very good movie, because I and nearly every other reviewer - even those who give the movie bad ratings - relate to Melanie as if she is a real person. Like it or not, this movie does what movies are supposed to do: create a world which the viewer experiences as real.

I thought this film was very well made given what was probably a very small budget. The acting was very fine, and the story was painfully realistic in many ways. I got it from the local library because it was about a young teacher. My wife teaches so I thought she might like it. Fortunately I watched it on my own first, and decided that she would probably find it very disturbing because of the realities depicted, but frustrating because of the inability of the young teacher to do what was necessary to help herself.

I found myself very moved by the young teacher, and had the feeling that I'd like to help her through her difficulties...difficulties revealed to the viewer, but ones she was unwilling to admit or express to those who might have helped her in the film.

Excellent film. Not for everybody for sure, but I found this film one of the best I have seen in years. The director has lots of courage to take such an enormous risk. The film leaves many questions open and is not easy to forget. The acting is absolutely superb, so natural and the film avoids simplicity. Highly recommend for people who hate sugar coating. This is film is truly tough, psychologically tough. The main actress is just amazing,but all supporting actors are good as well. The true subject of the film, I think, is actually survival and friendship. Female friendship rarely gets analyzed so closely and accurately. In general films focus too much on romance and not enough on friendships, which are just as complex and complicated.