Videomannen

I can understand how people can enjoy the references to other films and the general overall nostalgia of this film but, to be perfectly honest about it, it needs more than just milking the nostalgia of its audience to keep them engaged.

The film is very slow and boring, I only made it to about half way through before I gave up and turned it off. I'm not a guy who does this usually, I'll sit through a film I'm not enjoying simply because I want a complete picture of the film before I write anything. I'm also fine with "slow burn" movies, if the plot is and characters are engaging, I can sit happily taking it all in. But I simply lost patience with it.

This film may well appeal to others, but it just wasn't for me.

Ennio and Simone are passionate people, survivors from the '80s in a spiritless new millennium. Simone drinks to dull the pain of her unfulfilled existence. Her daughter is giving her the cold shoulder, so she takes refuge in '80s nostalgia, and in her passion for ancient Egypt. Ennio is clinging to his old video stock. He is a collector and smalltime dealer of VHS at a time when people are already moving on from DVD. He loves giallo, '70s Italian slasher films. Picking-up a rarity advertised by Simone, who is clearing her shelves, he has the chance to sell it to a mysterious collector for a small fortune, and get out from under his debts. But then, much like Simone's distant daughter, his mint condition VHS tape disappears without trace.

What Nick Hornby's Fever Pitch and High Fidelity did for sports and music fanatics, Videoman does for moviehounds. Like Hornby's heroes, Ennio needs to face up to changing times, but maybe he can still stay true to his principals without selling out? Simone likewise needs to stop propping herself up with booze and walk confidently towards a better future. Can they find their path together, or will their disappointed-positivity get in the way?

Videoman is an offbeat charmer, a comedy with a razor-sharp edge. Like a giallo flick it may lull you into a false state of security, only to launch a surprise out of the shadows. It's a bit funny, a bit depressed, a bit insightful, a bit stupid, a bit grisly. Ennio is, after all, immersed in slasher and T&A movies. Both he and Simone want respect, with little chance receiving any, except from each other. Their relationship is more mutually confessional than that provided to the geeky heroes of the aforementioned Hornby stories by their girlfriends. Videoman takes place in a twilit world full of repressed emotions, emotions that need to burst out. Sweden.

Much like Ennio's giallo classics, Videoman is likely to be a connoisseur's favourite, not a party piece, not a crowd pleaser. But it has a lot of charm, especially for anyone who remembers the '80s and VHS tapes.

This was an unexpected good movie with both laughter and a creping sensation down the neck, that made me check the door lock an extra time time when i got home. With excellent feal and referens to the 80,s VHS boom for all the nostalgic movie fans. Also fun to see some (in Sweden) big actors in not the biggest roles. And all actors deliver without a doubt a good preformance. A well made movie that suprice you in more ways than one.

This may have a bigger impace on people who had video store to go to. And I mean the one that had VHS tapes to rent or sell you. And then there is the Giallo aspect to it. I'm not really a fan of the genre overall, but you do can feel the love the director has for the genre. There are so many references to it. And the other great thing (if you are into that): it mixes comedy (not slapstick mind you) and horror - and it does a fantastic job at that.

Then take the acting and it goes beyond all. It really is something and while it may not affect everyone who watches it, the sheer amount of dedication (the years it took to make and so forth) is amazing. Just for that I got mad love for this movie - and the director is one of the nicest people you can meet. And just to be clear, only met him once (festival) and loved the movie even before meeting (and telling him about it)

Probably the worst foreign language film I've seen. Advertised as a romantic thriller, there's little romance and even less thrills and it's not even a decent study of the various characters in it. Maybe you have to be a VHS nerd or a lover of the film genres/directors mentioned in the film.