The Forbidden Girl

The photography and scenery were good. The special effects were decent.

If you don't try to make any sense out of it and just go along for the ride it's not bad. It's not a drag, something is always happening. I can see why some didn't like it; who knows, maybe the writer did have some symbolic meanings in there that only he knew about.

Let me explain or better elaborate: The camera and the lighting is pretty good, especially considering the budget frame this was (probably) made. And I say probably, but it's obvious from the CGI effects that they did not have a lot of money to make the movie. The actors either got bad directions though or were convinced they are in a play. Too much gestures and sometimes wrong gestures too.

So while it looks good (and has some nudity in it too), it is not looking good in the other departments. Missed opportunities, script wise and a lot of other things too. It is also too long for its own good. The end twist is nice, but does not safe the movie at all. Plus it's overall predictable as expected ...

What is an artistic masterpiece? If you're talking about music, take a listen to Miles Davis' Bitches Brew. Looking for artistry in films? Get comfortable on your couch and check out Jean-Luc Godard's 1960 beauty Breathless, or David Lynch's 2001 mystery Mulholland Drive. Those pieces of work are artistic things of beauty. Unfortunately, 2013's The Forbidden Girl, only wishes it were. Written and directed by German Til Hastreiter, this stylishly shot film is a convoluted mess. Almost two hours in length, this movie plods along at a snails pace. There is no attempt to infuse the characters with any backstory, or understanding of what is going on. The movie treats the viewers like passerby's more than as an audience.

For what it's worth, the story is centered around Toby (the capable Peter Gadiot), a young man raised by a psychopathic religious zealot father is warned that he must never love anyone. Why? I was never quite sure why. From what I could gather, Toby has been marked to be some type of evil repellent. However, Toby doesn't adhere to his father's orders and finds himself in love with a young girl named Becky (the interesting Jytte-Merle Bohrnsen). The two decide to consummate their love inside an abandoned mausoleum only to have Becky suddenly snatched away by some ominous demonic force. The next thing we know, Toby is in an insane asylum for allegedly killing his father.

Things only get worse from this point. Toby is released six years later and is given the worse job in history, a tutor for a couple that would give Gomez and Letitia Addams a run for their money. Weirdness takes center stage from this point, but not good weirdness. Ghostly guys pop in and out, Toby finds a girl who is the identical twin of Becky only blonde, crazy and going by the name Laura.

As I'm watching this film, I'm hoping for some revelation, some accountability to the audience as to what's going on, but this never happens. As I mentioned the movie looks great, cinematographer Tamas Kemenyffy does a great job, and would appear to have a bright future in filmmaking. The acting is better than I would have expected, and I can only imagine that with a better script they would have had some work to be proud of. The special effects weren't bad considering the budget for this film had to be miniscule.

Overall, Forbidden Woman is neither artistic or scary. There are moments in this film when you can see what the director was grasping for. Unfortunately, it always managed to stay beyond his talent to obtain. Overall, I couldn't recommend this film to anyone other than an insomniac, who after a few minutes of this somniferous offering would find themselves in peaceful sleep.

I really enjoyed this film and am amazed at its poor reviews and rating on IMDb. I think over time its rating will go up and maybe it will even achieve cult film status, I think it deserves it.

For those wanting a straight horror/mystery film with a final scene that wraps up all the loose story lines then you need to go elsewhere to one of the more predictable Hollywood horror films of the moment. This film is far more reminiscent of the Italian and English horror films of the 1960's and 70's, more about the atmosphere and the visuals than following a coherent story line. The cinematography is glorious and the locations and the sets look stunning. Others have complained about the 'blue' night scenes being amateurish, I think this was the intention of the director, to make it look more stylised than a regular night shot, think Dario Argento's 'Deep Red'.

The acting is fine from unknown actors; Jytte-Merle Böhrnsen is captivating as the Forbidden Girl whilst Klaus Tange plays a wonderful 1960's style baddie with blond Nazi hair.

So if you love the atmospheric horror films of the 1960s and 70's then you'll love this, go on, give it a try.

The story if you can call it a story, no you can't call it a story. Things happen, words are spoken, more things happen but there is not really a story. It may need to be watched several times to sort out just what is happening. I think that the visuals are happening so fast yet the story doesn't progress very quickly. This is what causes so much confusion when watching it. You're constantly looking for a point of reference but it's away with the fairies the whole time. Things don't really connect very well, like the director wasn't really sure what the story was supposed to be. You're left to try and piece together what you're seeing, into something vaguely coherent. It's kind of annoying if you get caught up in needing to know what is going on. Ultimately I think we are seeing the confusion that the lead male is experiencing as the events of the film go on around him. See that's what this is like. It's a wonderful world of what's going on the whole time. I'm not sure it makes for a good movie in the end but it's interesting to watch.