Mer amère

After seeing this beautiful, mesmerizing piece at the Fantasy Filmfestival in Germany I was quite shocked that it was actually written, directed and shot by students! The beauty, sensitivity and magic of this film are rarely found in European cinema these days. The images of vast and haunting beaches, the great music, the subtle use of supernatural elements and the very good acting show a great amount of talent, dedication and truly cinematic taste! The story is simple, but has something fable-like and universal to it - and the little boy that plays the lead is very good!

I wasn't surprised to learn that NimmerMeer had won a couple of major awards. I wonder what these guys will be doing next, but I'll definitely keep my eyes open...

Before starting my review, I must say that I'm French... So, sorry for my English which is rudimentary! :-/ Let's talk about a German movie as rare as inspired: Nimmermeer (Nevermore, in English) ! Strongly influenced by very long Nordic films Pelle the Conqueror (by Bille August) and Fanny and Alexander (by Ingmar Bergman), Nimmermeer tells the story of a young child faced to the brutal world of adults. Jonas and his father, Helge, live in a small fishing village located on the coast of the North Sea. Very poor, they are very happy together and love each other greatly. The father, fisherman very respected in his community, often tells fantasy stories to his son who then starts to go deep in dreams… But Helge dies suddenly and Jonas becomes orphan from one day to another. The other fishermen of the village not very concerned by the situation, it's finally the pastor who decides to take him home... For the greatest misfortune of Jonas ! Tyrannical, demanding discipline and an unfailing submission from the child, this man proves to be not as sweet and loving as his late father and does not share the same values of respect, tolerance, work and love that are so many and precious legacies for Jonas ! As these wonderful stories that told Helge. Desperate, the young child meets one day Grido, a dwarf magician who works in a traveling circus and will restore him the taste of life telling fabulous stories and fairy adventures ! More than a new father, Grido will become a guide for Jonas and invite him to open the door of a magical universe... Toke Constantin Hebbeln's work deals with one of my favorite themes: the power of the dream and its positive impact on reality. As in Pan's Labyrinth and Brazil, only the dream can give strength and hope when everything is going wrong around you. And sometimes it is this immaterial force that could allow any of us to move colossal mountains ! I am intimately convinced ! Childhood (his relationship to the adult world and the "transition" from one to the other) is the second major subject of the film. The idea that adults must guide and respect the child as his equal and even more (childhood is future !) is implicitly pounded throughout the movie. Of course, the themes of education, family, fatherhood and love are also present, being directly related to childhood. Death and mourning are also discussed but treatment is quite classical on the whole. From a technical point of view, the "good points" are many: a haunting and melancholic soundtrack (a very great BRAVO to Martina Eisenreich for his work), a perfect photography (to tell you, I have not yet found better... This "mixture" of sepia, blue, black, and beige... Even the remarkable Avalon by Mamoru Oshii is a notch below !), an excellent interpretation (Manni Laudenbach, who interprets Grido, is prodigious and his elocution would catch the most undisciplined audience !) and a mastered direction. We understand better the awards obtained by this masterpiece, including the famous Foreign Film Award from the Student Academy Awards 2007. Sensitive, moving, poetic, beautiful, deeply intelligent and speaking both to adults and children, Nimmermeer has only a single default: to be on TV too rarely ! Between the Fantastico-philosophical tale and the social fable, this ambitious medium-length film was not far to be in my Top 30 ! But despite this, it remains my favorite movie in this so particular format of which is one of the worthy representatives ! A must-see ! To see my review in (good ^^) french, you can go on my website "Le cinéma d'Arkelios". Thanx :) - Arkelios -

Nimmermeer (AKA Nevermore) tells the story of Jonas, a young boy who lives a happy, albeit impoverished life with his fisherman father until one day his dad fails to return from the sea. He is adopted by a well-intentioned but heartless clergyman and loses all sense of joy in his life. Can he learn to smile again? Only a carny freak holds the key...

Beautifully filmed with a fairytale aura, this is German cinema at its best. Aimed at older children (it's too psychologically scary for younger ones) this movie will touch the hearts of all ages.

The German dialogue is straightforward for anyone with a working knowledge of the language, otherwise English subtitles are available from opensubtitles.org

Bear with me a little, and you'll understand the following. Just read the rest, please.

Bille August, of Indiana Jones' fame, wrote and directed one of the Big Epics of Nordic cinema in 1986, Pelle Erobreren. Max Von Sydow and Pelle Hvenegaard played the roles we (almost) see here played by Rolf Becker (Helge) and Leonard Proxauf (Jonas) yet, still a far cry from the original.

Around 1983, Ingmar Bergman spent more than 100 days of non-stop work shooting Fanny och Alexander, arguably the best film ever made. There, we meet the Ekhdals and, in particular, Alexander, who faces the trial and physical punishment for his sins by a priest (by then, his stepfather), memorably played by Jan Malmsjö in a scene copied exactly, even the words (here in German rather than the original Swedish) for NimmerMeer.

A young and sweet Troels Asmussen, in August's film (Pelle), plays a rejected child that wants to leave "home" with the troupè that tours the village, who deeply resembles Tom Lass' character (Knut).

NimmerMeer is very well done. Beautifully shot. Illumination and camera work are outstanding, but the script follows so closely two other very well known films, that even the names of people refer to them. It's much more Swedish or Danish in looks than German (wardrobes, actors, sets). And this is not just because all the names used on the film are either Norwegian or Swedish!

Some scenes use the exact camera angles, wardrobes AND text used on the original films, so I couldn't call these "details" a homage to August and Bergman.

The relationship with The Death and dreams is a theme Alexander deals with in Bergman's story as Jonas does here almost with the same visual references and in the same "acts" as in Fanny och Alexander.

All in all, if this film is to be regarded as something original, it is not. If it was made to show how good a thing could be done as a beautiful project, it succeeded, but I'd recommend Toke Hebbeln (the Director) to credit the writers who gave life to his characters before.

Toke directed a short when he was 24. It is a beautiful, rare and strong film that has life of its own. Here, on his feature-length debut I find something extremely rare in modern cinema: using others scripts and not telling the audience they're about to see some scenes of two films intertwined in a way you can think it's something original.

If you're looking for really touching little film, beautifully shot and crafted - this might be your pick. I was given the DVD of this little film by a friend. "Nevermore" is not the kind of movie you watch to just watch something. It's a little piece of art and full of hidden, beautiful detail that you won't see the first time you watch it. I looked for the director online and just saw, that he's made another film that looks promising. I am not an expert, but I have a feeling that we'll hear from this guy in the future.

In terms of storytelling I won't give away much, only that it's a really touching story about loss & magic. Enjoy...