Der Samurai

I had no preconceived ideas going into this movie but was pleasantly surprised by the plot, which was unique and kept me interested until the end.

It's well made with a low budget and despite not really being a horror, it was a strange (in a good way) dark fantasy.

Well worth a watch.

I watch movies for my lifetime and i saw the biggest crap and really good ones, to masterpieces of filmmaking. Of course, taste is an individual thing. Sometimes, or mostly, you stumble over great things, something you did not expect. Like in this movie's case. Little village gay policeman has to catch a wolf, striving around the village. He "feeds" the wolf anonymously, to keep the creature away from town. Soon he mets a bizarre "homeless person", dressed like the killer from the 1st Silence of the lambs movie. There is a deeper meaning to this, because the policeman is gay, and the homeless one represents his sexual fantasy. I really do not want to say much about the plot, because the movie left me speechless several times. Damn, this is a good one. It is to me on the same level of coolness, like "Tears of kali", even beyond that. The movie runs nearly 80 minutes, get your copy and waste your time for the good. A super 7 out of 10.

Watching the movie at Frightfest where it generally played better than my vote is displaying, it feels weird talking about it. Shot-wise, that is framing and lighting and everything technical is really exceptional. Especially considering this is only a first time effort (and for the "budget" it was made).

But actually understanding the performances (language-wise) and getting that there are quite a few flaws in the acting department takes a bit out of the fun. You also have to have a keen sense of the absurd to really enjoy it. It doesn't hurt if you are not too judgmental either considering the homo-erotic undertones (actually you can say they are not so subtle) in the movie. Something that helps the movie, but due to the "performances" also kind of lets it down (if you have an issue with the ... issue it'll be a letdown either way). Just watching it and getting the essence from the subtitles might be helpful enjoying this more of course. Which many celebrities at Frightfest did. Also the director is a very nice and humble person. And with a festival success like that, he'll be able to do something grander

I just saw this film at the Frightfest London, and it is certainly one of best films in this year's selection. Very interesting characters and a story that is captivating but remains unclear and unresolved in just the right way. Pit Bukowski starring in the title role as the "samurai" is one of the most enigmatic movie villains I have seen in a while. The director said that "The Hitcher" is one of his main influences and this certainly shows. So if you want to see a horror film with a little more substance that the average "Slasher Flick" seek this one out. I am amazed that this was done in Germany. The mostly state-financed film scene there normally creates a lot of "worthy" films that focus on social relevance above everything else. This film definitely brights some fresh air into German filmmaking and I hope it makes it into international distribution.

I saw this film at the Imagine (sf/horror/fantasy) filmfestival Amsterdam 2014. The title may attract the wrong audience, but that is the only problem I have with this movie. It focuses on the Samurai sword that is carried all the time by the transvestite, who is the primary trigger of all events following. He and local policeman Jakob are the obvious main characters that carry the story from start to finish. But the sword is far from the lead weapon, due to very prominent roles of confusion, surprise and deviant behavior to augment the proceedings. The latter three story elements make it difficult to tell much about the story, fearing literally spoiling all the inherent fun of this movie.

Nice are some interwoven plots. A perfect example is the motor gang, seemingly appearing in the beginning as a side issue. This group unexpectedly gets an important role later on, when grouping around the transvestite in an obvious attempt to mock him. Little do they know what disaster is before them. There is a second interwoven plot around Jakob's mother, but I better confine myself to hinting that it is useful to keep an eye on her too.

All in all, very good entertainment full of unexpected events, perfectly capable to keep our attention throughout. In the Q&A we learned that it is "just" a master thesis project, still more reason to admire the end result. This film ended 23rd (out of 43) for the audience award, with average score 7.20.