La vida según Attenberg

According to one of the main characters, Greece is a country which has moved from keeping sheep to IT, without passing industrialism. And this is not the Greece you see in postcards. It's post modernism in an ugly shape, the remains of an overrated 20th century.

One of the girls here is 23 years old and has always rejected both sex and love. Her female friend is on the other hand very experienced. Their relationship is somewhat cold, although finds expression in their dancing together in a yard.

A father and architect dies, not any longer believing in his 1900s. The 23-year-old girl almost talks a relation with a man into pieces. This is a form experiment, but it's not that successful. But it very much rejects that old bad century.

This movie, despite seeming like a mess, makes a lot of sense to me.

Human existence is defined by essential contrasts. The sexual and the unsexual reflect the conflict between instinct and choice; death and life, the transience that gives meaning to the present.

Human existence is marked by contrasts that define and challenge us. Between the sexual and the unsexual lies the dilemma of creation and restraint, of desire and renunciation. What is instinctive clashes with what is chosen, revealing the boundaries and freedoms of our being.

Wisdom is the discernment that illuminates ignorance, while knowledge and the unknown coexist, reminding us of our limits. Finally, the rational and the animal find balance, uniting reason and instinct, showing that to be human is to embrace these dualities.

Very, very good!

Difficult. That's what cult stands for in this situation. Greece's highest creations come from a group of people where they recycle and create via a type of rotation. The producer of Dogtooth become a director, the director an actor and so on. Not bad at all. Follows the artistic aspect of Dogtooth, showing a story on adulthood and dealing with loss and what you are. An unconventional human being (with a touch of Asperger's syndrome), a loving and caring father, a slutty best friend and a partner almost like an alter ego, resembles to her father, and mirrors herself. Honest, familiar yet artsy, method-ish and pretentious from time to time. But still opens up to the viewers, where the twisted is welcome, no one judges and offers himself to the public effortlessly, honestly almost unconditionally. A new era, post modern, unlocks the contemporary social establishment.

23 year old Marina (Ariane Labed) has a best and only friend Bella (Evangelia Randou) living in a small Greek seaside town. She has a job driving a visiting engineer around for the big factory. Her dad is dying and she's growing out of her shell.

It's a cold deadpan delivery from everybody. Starting from the awkward opening scene where the two women try tongue kissing, this is an experimental film bent on provoking something from the audience. However the one emotion provoked in me is boredom. That's even true for the weird dance number. The monotone style really wore me out. Ariane seems like a compelling actress. Her story with the father has good potential. I just got bored waiting for things to happen.

Wihtout much info regarding the writer/director or a film presentation it's hard to solve the puzzle of what I've just watched (I have Chevalier in my watchlist: good reason to watch it sooner than later).

While I'm not sure if Attenberg is about human ethology, about a father-daughter bond, about Greece, industrial districts, young women, modern relationships or modern relationships of Greek young women in industrial districts...

OR simply autobiographical...

While I'm not sure of any of these, I can say that Attenberg is a pleasing and powerful watch.