Alps

Alps offers another engagingly weird examination of the human psyche from co-writer/director Yorgos Lanthimos. Focusing on those who profit off death to show some of the darker sides of humanity in a cold, offbeat and occasionally uncomfortable fashion.

The core four (Angeliki Papoulia, Aris Servetalis, Johnny Verkins and Ariane Labed) are all great at conveying the desensitised personality the film is going for. Their sympathy always feels fake and they all nail the delivery of this very specific type of comedy.

Yorgos Lanthimos really excels at creating environments that are just so bleak, especially through their desaturation. The overall weirdness can be a bit too much here in a way his other films balance better but even then it's still impressive to see a very distinctive voice find its footing.

It has a plot that is inspired, and delightfully surreal. But the execution of it is dreadful. The imagination does not run wild in Alps. Visual speaking, it is a huge letdown. Everyone in the film seems half dead, sleepwalking through the film. Grieving with death is a concept that only makes sense if it is dealt with accurately. Now, I know that Alps is a surrealist piece, but it just didn't resonate with me emotionally. It didn't hit me where it clearly wanted to.

In Greece, a nurse, a paramedic, a gymnast and her coach form an underground group known as Alps. The goal of Alps is to help bereaved families through the mourning process by posing as the recently deceased. Run by the paramedic, the group visit elderly ladies, widowers and the like, keeping them company in the guise of the dead. After a young tennis player dies, the nurse takes up her role. Matters are complicated after she becomes obsessed; refusing to drop the act even after the grieving parents demand it. Meanwhile, the gymnast wants to dance to pop music, which her disciplinarian coach insists she isn't ready for. Will Alps prosper, or will the obsessiveness of the nurse lead to the groups' downfall?

Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, 'Alps' is a movie both intriguing and frustrating. Lanthimos and co-writer Efthymis Filippou have come up with a genius conceit, which they then fail to explore as interestingly or as deeply as they could have. The narrative has surprisingly little emotional weight, constantly flirting around the edges of greatness but never quite making it. Scenes where the Alps members pose as the deceased initially have promise, but because Lanthimos and Filippou don't allow their characters to display any emotions; they ultimately have limited impact.

How can you create a meaningful film about grief when you don't allow any of your characters to grieve, or emote in any way? Additionally, there are numerous protracted silences in the film which- because of the aforementioned emotional frigidity of the characters- seem unnecessarily drawn out rather than intelligently introspective. Also, the sub-plot involving the gymnast and her coach, while entertaining, seems out of place in the grand scheme of things. It has no bearing on the main story; making one wonder whether or not it was included just to pad out the running time.

What was Lanthimos trying to say with 'Alps,' exactly? Some postulate the film may be an analogy about groupthink, while others claim it is some sort of capitalist cultural critique. The director himself has stated that "Alps is about a person who tries to enter a fabricated world," which doesn't really go a long way to explaining his intended meaning behind it. Ultimately, whatever message was at the core of 'Alps' is one so obscured by the confounding coldness of Lanthimos's approach that it's likely lost forever (on this viewer, anyway).

Having said that, there is a lot to praise about 'Alps.' Christos Voudouris's muted cinematography is attractive, lending to the proceedings a stark atmosphere that matches the narrative's dispassionate tone. His composition is frequently inspired, and some of his shots linger in the mind long after the credits have rolled. The story features much bizarre, dark humor that works well, and the cast are all great. Angeliki Papoulia and Johnny Vekris particularly impress as the nurse and the coach, respectively, turning in memorable performances despite Lanthimos and Filippou's scant characterization.

Yorgos Lanthimos's 'Alps' is a cold, calculated conundrum. As a complete package, it doesn't really work- though it contains scenes of power and moments of interest. Strikingly shot by Christos Voudouris, and routinely well-acted; it is not the creative and technical travesty some claim it to be. This is not to say it is a masterpiece either, for it is very far from that. Though Lanthimos has made much better films- 'Dogtooth' or 'The Lobster' come to mind- 'Alps' is certainly worth seeing; if only so you know you haven't missed the director's magnum opus.

With the singularly compelling premise of a mysterious group offering to take over the roles of recently deceased people to provide relief for their loved ones, it came as quite the shock to me that Greek writer-director Yorgos Lanthimos's follow-up to his 2009 Oscar-nominated "Dogtooth" (one of my all-time favorites) ultimately failed at living up to its concept.

Throughout the entirety of "Alps", I felt I was gazing in awe at a beautiful seed sadly incapable of germination. The film barely got anywhere while maintaining an incredibly slow pace and irritating visual style consisting of incessantly restrained deep-focus cinematography. There was so much potential wasted on scenes far too peculiar and insignificant to add any depth to the story or further develop the characters. Seldom did anything rightfully earn its place in the film; the multiple sex scenes seemed to be there with the sole purpose of being extremely awkward and obscene, while all the attempts at absurd humor felt slightly forced and weren't as effective as they should have been due to the narrative's intermittent solemnity.

This brings me to the film's greatest problem, which was that— on top of struggling to find its own voice and tone in its ridiculously irrational approach— it never really figured out what message it wanted to convey to its audience. Evidently Lanthimos was trying to say something about human nature and the craziness of consumer society, but he didn't succeed in delivering his thoughts coherently this time around. I hate comparing, but I must say I found the profound social critique that seeped through the bizarre surface of "Dogtooth" to be far superior in elaboration.

The end result of "Alps" was a confused, detached (albeit well-acted, especially by Aggeliki Papoulia) jumble beyond anyone's realm of comprehension, so overwhelmingly filled with unjustified senselessness that the most I could do was simply sit and stare at the screen, patiently awaiting some real substance, only to be disappointed by sheer staleness.

I suppose I somewhat admired "Alps" for all that it could've been following its eccentric uniqueness, but I can't see how anyone in their right mind could have truly enjoyed it.

Whilst not without interest, I thought Alps was a bit of a mess of a film. Maybe the dark satirical humour was lost in translation somewhat because The Lobster and The Killing of a Sacred Deer were two of my favourite films of their respective years. The Favourite less so, so perhaps not just a language barrier. Dogtooth was a wonderful kind of weird, but still didn't hit the heights of Lobster and TKOASD. After seeing Alps I'm not so sure I'm a huge YL fan after all. What the hell was it about other than a strange cult where 'members' act out the recently deceased so as to help people's grieving process? I like weird, but maybe this was a step too far. In all honesty it was a bit dull. A strangely diasappointing 5 out of ten, but yet I can't wait to see what he does next now he's got a huge box office hit under his belt. I think he should cast Colin Farrell - it's bound to be great!