Alpen

If it is one thing I really love, it is being in a state of PARANOIA. In Yorgos Lanthimos's Alps, we follow a group of individuals, mainly gymnastic instructors, who basically began a business where they act as someones recently-diseased loved-one in order for the family (thinking of parents) cope with the grieving process. Sounds like a wacky story. Well, it is :).

As I like to mention before all my reviews, I have seen the previous work of Lanthimos. Mainly the very successful Greek film, Dogtooth, which is a dysfunctional family with the kids being taught the wrong things in order to be safe from the outside world. That one I loved.

BUT I ALSO LOVED THIS ONE! The small things that they do with the camera-work blows my mind. There are a lot of times where our main character, or so I think, simply named Nurse (played by Angeliki Papoulia who was in Dogtooth) speaks with another individual where we cannot see their face. It is either cut-out, blurred, or even covered by shadows. I love this. I have seen Kar-Wai Wong do it in a couple of his films. It adds a little mystery and confusion to the story. Do these people not matter? Will they matter? What have you!

The tone of the film is pretty much the same throughout it all. Some little indents here and there, but in my opinion, it is worth the watch, regardless how slow you think it is.

I just find it very fun to watch these type of people (broken) living there lives on a day to day basis. Not the major things they do throughout there day that effects them, but the small things that we rarely take notice of. Like small chit-chat with someone else, etc.

I must say, that as much as they seem they are pushing it away, I find this film very touching. The way they have to impersonate a family member who is dead makes up for the abnormal conversations. You can tell that when they are going through this process that they are acting; very badly, too. But that is how it would go. That is not something you can enjoy, nor hate. Nor will you think it's a good idea or bad. It just feels as though it is something to do.

It has a plot that is inspired, and delightfully surreal. But the execution of it is dreadful. The imagination does not run wild in Alps. Visual speaking, it is a huge letdown. Everyone in the film seems half dead, sleepwalking through the film. Grieving with death is a concept that only makes sense if it is dealt with accurately. Now, I know that Alps is a surrealist piece, but it just didn't resonate with me emotionally. It didn't hit me where it clearly wanted to.

Greek director Giorgos Lanthimos's second feature film "Alps" is just as thought provoking and bizarre as his Academy Award nominated debut "Dogtooth". He paints a very surreal picture that can be hard to understand, but somehow is still very engaging.

"Alps" is the name of a clandestine group of four people who offer a service to impersonate the recently deceased in order to help their clients through the grieving process. This group is comprised of a nurse, a rhythmic gymnast and her coach, and another man who is their leader. They are called the "Alps" because it is ambiguous and doesn't say what they do, as well as being irreplaceable. They meet in a gymnasium and don't go by their real names but are referred to by mountain peaks associated with the Alps. The leader is Mount Blanc, the Nurse and the stories main character is called Mount Rose.

The film is mainly focused on Mount Rose, played by Aggrelikki Papoulia who also starred in "Dogtooth" as the Eldest daughter. It is about the lost of identity and losing your connections to reality. Mount Rose is a nurse who lives with her elderly father, but also seems to be a playing the part of his late wife. She has several Alps clients and it is hard to find who the "real" Mount Rose is. The Gymnast and coach are another thing altogether, she is always in training and never seems to be ready. Mount Blanc is sort of a mystery. He is the quiet and stoic leader of the group who during a game of who would you most like to impersonate chooses Bruce Lee.

When Mount Rose breaks one of the rules of being an Alp she is cast out, this is where she loses her proverbial sh** and has a complete mental breakdown. Like trying to describe the meaning of a Salvador Dali painting, both "Alps" and "Dogtooth" just need to be experienced and usually more than once. Both movies are now available on Netflix watch Instantly.

In Greece, a nurse, a paramedic, a gymnast and her coach form an underground group known as Alps. The goal of Alps is to help bereaved families through the mourning process by posing as the recently deceased. Run by the paramedic, the group visit elderly ladies, widowers and the like, keeping them company in the guise of the dead. After a young tennis player dies, the nurse takes up her role. Matters are complicated after she becomes obsessed; refusing to drop the act even after the grieving parents demand it. Meanwhile, the gymnast wants to dance to pop music, which her disciplinarian coach insists she isn't ready for. Will Alps prosper, or will the obsessiveness of the nurse lead to the groups' downfall?

Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, 'Alps' is a movie both intriguing and frustrating. Lanthimos and co-writer Efthymis Filippou have come up with a genius conceit, which they then fail to explore as interestingly or as deeply as they could have. The narrative has surprisingly little emotional weight, constantly flirting around the edges of greatness but never quite making it. Scenes where the Alps members pose as the deceased initially have promise, but because Lanthimos and Filippou don't allow their characters to display any emotions; they ultimately have limited impact.

How can you create a meaningful film about grief when you don't allow any of your characters to grieve, or emote in any way? Additionally, there are numerous protracted silences in the film which- because of the aforementioned emotional frigidity of the characters- seem unnecessarily drawn out rather than intelligently introspective. Also, the sub-plot involving the gymnast and her coach, while entertaining, seems out of place in the grand scheme of things. It has no bearing on the main story; making one wonder whether or not it was included just to pad out the running time.

What was Lanthimos trying to say with 'Alps,' exactly? Some postulate the film may be an analogy about groupthink, while others claim it is some sort of capitalist cultural critique. The director himself has stated that "Alps is about a person who tries to enter a fabricated world," which doesn't really go a long way to explaining his intended meaning behind it. Ultimately, whatever message was at the core of 'Alps' is one so obscured by the confounding coldness of Lanthimos's approach that it's likely lost forever (on this viewer, anyway).

Having said that, there is a lot to praise about 'Alps.' Christos Voudouris's muted cinematography is attractive, lending to the proceedings a stark atmosphere that matches the narrative's dispassionate tone. His composition is frequently inspired, and some of his shots linger in the mind long after the credits have rolled. The story features much bizarre, dark humor that works well, and the cast are all great. Angeliki Papoulia and Johnny Vekris particularly impress as the nurse and the coach, respectively, turning in memorable performances despite Lanthimos and Filippou's scant characterization.

Yorgos Lanthimos's 'Alps' is a cold, calculated conundrum. As a complete package, it doesn't really work- though it contains scenes of power and moments of interest. Strikingly shot by Christos Voudouris, and routinely well-acted; it is not the creative and technical travesty some claim it to be. This is not to say it is a masterpiece either, for it is very far from that. Though Lanthimos has made much better films- 'Dogtooth' or 'The Lobster' come to mind- 'Alps' is certainly worth seeing; if only so you know you haven't missed the director's magnum opus.

Whilst not without interest, I thought Alps was a bit of a mess of a film. Maybe the dark satirical humour was lost in translation somewhat because The Lobster and The Killing of a Sacred Deer were two of my favourite films of their respective years. The Favourite less so, so perhaps not just a language barrier. Dogtooth was a wonderful kind of weird, but still didn't hit the heights of Lobster and TKOASD. After seeing Alps I'm not so sure I'm a huge YL fan after all. What the hell was it about other than a strange cult where 'members' act out the recently deceased so as to help people's grieving process? I like weird, but maybe this was a step too far. In all honesty it was a bit dull. A strangely diasappointing 5 out of ten, but yet I can't wait to see what he does next now he's got a huge box office hit under his belt. I think he should cast Colin Farrell - it's bound to be great!