Luzifer

The two main actors are tremendous but the material is beyond strange. A mother and son live in a scenic mountain range with spectacular scenery and the cinematography is as good as I have ever seen. They are both bald and the woman is often nude. Ms. Jensen is along in years and the nudity is not a pleasant experience for the viewer. The pair practice what appears to be a mixture of Catholicism(judging by the Rosary beads and images of Jesus and Mary) and some type of nature worship with fire and water. Drones are a frequent adversary as developers are clear cutting the nearby forest and need to move the mountain dwellers for further use of their land. The dialogue is sparse and the final scene bizarre. I cannot recommend this film.

Wild faith in God and very curious drones. An arrhythmically edited tale in the highlands of central Europe. Maria and Johannes struggle. There is too much talk. Silence is rare. And the effect sound and music should be rooted in nature. But the drones add a lot of tension and voltage.

And when the house finally burned down, sure enough he was in it.

This is pure cinematic art, what a disturbing film full of symbolism. I found the falconry images fantastic. I was impressed by the representation of a syncretic Catholicism, immersed in an extremely telluric paganism as a counterpoint to the invasion of modernity that destroys nature, cutting down trees, killing people. Mud, images of saints, rosaries, bibles, cilices, self-flagellation, an attempt to make holy water out of dirty water from a frozen lake... What a strange film!

"Every day we stray further from God's light" may be a 'meme-able' saying, but it is one that is none-the-less true when we look at a mix of contempt and disinterest in institutionalized belief that is more prominent than ever. Yet, the interest in exploring faith through cinema seems ever present as religious horror is still an eminent subgenre - evident from Fantastic Fest screening other religious themed horrors such as Agnes, Exorcism of God and Eyes of Fire. However, Peter Brunner's Luzifer proves to be a unique beast, a dark mediation on religious fervor, isolation and mistreatment of nature.

While the direction and vision of Brunner makes the production a complete success, Susanne Jensen and Franz Rogowski give career defining performances as mother and son. In particular, Rogowski navigates the tricky territory of portraying someone with a severe learning disability, let alone a simple-minded individual managing the complexities of sexual guilt and religious fear. Overall, it is a remarkable performance to witness: the two play off of each other and fully commit to the life of these outsiders.

Deeply engrossing and tragically beautiful, Luzifer is a powerful piece of cinema that begs for a wider audience. Sadly, with the current state of A24-esque productions being considered the peak of arthouse cinema among the masses, productions like this seem more likely to get lost in the hype of other films making the rounds at festival season. Make no mistake, Luzifer is a beautifully realized experience that deserves similar accolades from the 'A24 vibes' crowd - give this one a shot.

Just checked out the trailer again after I saw this rough and daring movie at Locarno. Variety teased it as an reimagination of a true story of an innocent, Kaspar Hauser-like man with the heart of a child.

I have to say Herzogs "Kasper Hauser" was strang and beautiful and silly. This one is more like an Ed Gein character from a "Psycho", or François Truffaut "The Wild Child" from planet Eagle language.

I love the meditative space the story generated and circled and circeld to a point of no return and true emotion. If you're up for real emotions and a horror coming from real life: this is your popcon bite!