Immer nie am Meer

It's hard to criticize this film without giving away too much, but I'll do my best. First of all, don't expect a comedy, or anything too similar to Stermann & Grissemann's Stand- Ups. There are a few chuckles here and there, but as it moves along it becomes darker and more and more serious. It's not funny enough to be a comedy, it's not exciting enough to be a thriller. Disappointingly it has no moral or deeper meaning whatsoever (at least I couldn't think of one). I left the theater asking myself "So what?" and I think this movie has the same problem "Die Fetten Jahre sind vorbei" has: The premise is original and pretty interesting, but it seems as if the writers themselves lost interest halfway into the story and decided to stick with some uninspired ending and call it a day. I don't feel like I've wasted too much money on this one, but if you have the choice: Rent "Indien" again.

4 out of 10

Saw these 3 movies at 2007 toronto film fest, Gone with the Woman (GwtW), With Your Permission (WyP) and Forever Never Anywhere (FNA).

While WyP and GwtW both deals with perspectives of male/female relationships, both from the male PoV and the struggles it sometimes involves.

WyP is layered with reverse situation setups, slow plot revelations and memorable performances. Nothing is perfect, however, as WyP is every so slightly marred by a ... hmmmmmmm .... how shall I put it, ... an under-communicated closing shot. (As in Q&A the director pointed out she wanted a happy ending shot with a sense of "blue").

With that in mind, GwtW is a bit disappointing because it uses generalizations, and some stereotypes. There are high points of dialog, visualization but it feels like another version of 'Hi-Fidelity' ... grown men trying grow into their age .. by .. finding the missing one true self. And the execution feels Hollywood also.

FNA does not have the same theme, or belongs to the same category .. or any other that I can recall. It is fresh, humorous with some risk taking ... sometimes may have traversed over the limits of some viewers (but at no time degrades or degenerates into something less), is my most enjoyable film from the festival.

So 8 for WyP, 9 for FNA, 6 for GwtW.

Post edit 2008 :

Still the best of the 3. For this film, FNA, thought, I was locked into it. Sometimes, a movie will force you to become objective because their value/esthetics/dialgue .. or what not clashes with yours. And I'm a pretty tolerant guy. Not here for sure, I wanted to see what's next;tuned into the movie, tuned out of the surroundings. I want to see how the characters will act, react, think (or not) obout the actions of others and self.

Premise is simple, but I haven't seen : 3 guys trapped in a car. And it goes naturally from there. More of fulfilling a social experiment... and what's the point? I can't recall since this subesquent comment is written a year after. But I want to see this again!!!

FOREVER NEVER ANYWHERE (Antonin Svoboda - Austria 2007).

Seen at the IFF Rotterdam, 3 February 2007.

The set-up is simple: Three men get into an accident with their car on a deserted mountain road when they try to avoid hitting a woman who is jogging there in the middle of the night. The car gets off the road, rolls of the mountain until it dashes against a tree. Problem is: they can't get out. The car is an armoured Mercedes, that used to belong to former Austrian president Kurt Waldheim, bought by one of them at a bargain price. But now, the electric doors and windows won't open and they're stuck. Filled with brash and lowbrow humour, and with its single set-up of three men stuck in the small confined space of a car, it's surprisingly entertaining. The film takes an even more bizarre twist when suddenly the three men become the subject of a young boy who starts using these men as live guinea pigs, instead of rescuing them.

Since I couldn't find this one anywhere on IMDb, I gathered it went ahead under a different title, but apparently it was added quite recently under its German title IMMER NIE AM MEER. However, the English title FOREVER NEVER ANYWHERE must be one of the worst I've come across in a long time, but don't let that fool you. This Austrian comedy is good fun and was received with almost constant laughter during its screening in the Netherlands, but festival audiences do tend to be a little more acceptant than most..

With its micro-budget and basically one outdoor location, this film shows that one can make an interesting film when starting with an original idea, convincing acting, humor and some clever plot twists. I had a perfectly good time watching this.

Camera Obscura --- 8/10

I had a phase where I could watch this movie all day and thought it was hilarious, maybe due to the fact that prior I watched/heard some things of Heinz Strunk.

Maybe it's more a movie to watch alone and in company it gets boring.

I think it's a unique type of Comedy which also has thoughtful moments.