Kater

Odd film that is hard to define, but for me it seems to be about the power of true love. The first half hour or so of this overlong film allows us to watch a wonderfully loving relationship. We have no knowledge of how long these two men have been together, but it has the feel of a somewhat lengthy coupling. They adore each other at seemingly all times. This is not a film for prudes as this section contains much nudity, erections, a lot of affection and comes within a hair's width of pornography every now and then, but it never quite crosses the line. There is an odd scene involving a third person watching this couple having sex with their permission. I don't have a clue what its point is, but it is rather erotic. That may simply be its point?! As the synopsis here states this is about a sudden violent act that tests the strength of their bond, which again, to me is what this is all about. Once that act has been committed, the rest of the film is basically about whether they can recover from it. The film also touches upon mental illness near an intriguingly mysterious ending, but it never delves into it with any depth at all. The acting by the two principles is very good. This slow paced Austrian film about a violent act and its repercussions between two gay men who let it all hang out is surely not for everyone, but there is an audience for this. If they can find it.

Kater is surely one of the most disturbing films ever made. If it had focused on a heterosexual couple I am sure this film would have been widely applauded as outstanding, but implicit reactions in most viewers are probably blocked by the sexual explicitness of the two main characters. Personally I find it more disturbing that any of Haneke's films, and about the extremes of human reaction it certainly is. The violence in it has no explanation because the director does not reveal the hidden impulse that leads to the apparently inexplicable violent act. It is for us the viewer to take on the violence and the guilt that follows and, while watching, bring to the surface our own guilts, our own acts of cruelty, mild or otherwise. The viewer is trapped in his or her own responses, examining their own inner motivations, and that is the darkest place the viewer can be. And because most of us fail to accept our guilt and its consequences we accuse the film of being too long, too boring, too unexplainable; anything will do as long as we refuse to accept that human motivation, even when analyzed by psychiatrists, is haphazard to say the least and that love, although enduring, can be an enduring hell for both persons involved. There is a curious scene where a friend simply watches the two men make love. It is there for apparently no reason and it is curious because he seems to be trying to understand their sexuality as if it were a whole new territory of being, and this is how we should watch this film