A Thought of Ecstasy

I'm not a mechanic, but when a car goes "guh-guh-guh-pffrt" I am capable of determining it is broken.

In that same vain, I am not an actor, but... they're all going guh-guh-guh-pffrt.

I'm 98% sure no AI was involved in this movie, but everybody involved seems to have gone out of their way to warn us what would happen if it was.

The dialogues are especially egregious, which can in part be blamed on RP Kahl's overestimation of his English.

Ordering a cheeseburger with a side of fries at a roadside diner puts far less strain on your linguistic skills than trying to emote and remember your lines.

It also doesn't help that every time I'm forced to look at a close up of the man, I think of that yellow bastard in Sin City.

The actresses don't fare much better, however. Disjointed dialogue and a robotic delivery turns what seems like an attempt at some sort of art into incredulous stares at the screen and a quick look at the clock to see how long I have to watch this before I'm allowed to pass judgment.

With about ten minutes left and nothing but utter confusion to show for it, it's time. And since this film thinks it can be highbrow, I shall do the same: Judgment is unfavorable.

What was this movie even about? Throughout the entire movie I had no idea what was going on. Every scene had me questioning whether the protagonist was hallucinating or having a flashback since it didn't quite mesh with the narration going on. And most of the time that could have been devoted to developing plot was just the guy driving around in his car.

Ecstasy is far from how I would describe this movie. It was slow, confusing, lacked any real intimacy, and ended with a big WTF moment that just makes you feel gross. I hope I burn this film out of my memory.

The film is well shot and is sort of a mix between Kahl's own vision and Antonioni, Lynch and other influences. Great actresses too: both the two newcomers and the ever-charming Deborah Unger are prefect in their roles.

...but in any case need to have the patience to see it to the (interesting) end - avoid the spoilers for that of course.

First 30min or so one might find it hard to get through but the characters grow with time, and the erotic visuals bridge the strange (not very sense making) monologues. And the landscapes of (suppose) Nevada empty desert are stunning too.

Generally while watching I thought this feels like a Werner Herzog film without (the usually interesting Herzog-) narration but with artfully filmed (not appearing cheap or just exposing nudity) pretty stunning naturally beautiful looking females. Not spoiling but as a precaution for (cis)women thinking of watching, unfortunately for them there is only more or less one male to look at in the flesh, which is the director himself. So apart from film art students of any gender, it might visually be more suited for a male audience (or couples) who will enjoy watching - if patience and time is no issue :)

It was intriguing. Yes, it is provocative, exploring sexuality, but it also makes you think and deal with it - deal with the complicated feeling. The story itself without the artistic extras is also interesting.

Not a movie for everyone, I think one should be open to new ideas and opinions to like this movie. Then again, quoting my mother:

"People are fine with watching people killed in movies with their kids, but when it comes to physical intimacy, they feel uncomfortable"

Sadly it's true, yet it can be argued, that every sensible human knows that killing is not okay and maybe they feel that seeing sex or something along the same lines is too intimate for the TV? I don't know and I digress.

If you want to experience something new, watch this movie :)

If you won't make it until the end, that's fine, people have different levels for tolerating things. I myself am 17 and would say I'm rather innocent and it wasn't too much for me - while I was watching this next to my mother on a big screen, I was actually laughing, not feeling bad.

I recommend it to everyone.