Hades

My girlfriend and I had the great pleasure of seeing "Hades" at the Berlin Film Festival and we both agreed that it was like nothing we've ever seen before. The short has a very experimental approach, so t's hard to describe. It felt more like a beautiful and twisted trip. A beautiful woman wakes up in a room at night and starts walking through an (seemingly) empty house.. Each room is like one of the rivers of Hades - yet also represents different stages of a relationship. Every room has a very different atmosphere and sound - ranging from terrifying to beautiful and tragic. Visually the movie is beautiful, different colors light up each scene and the actress is just gorgeous! The cinematography is very cool. It reminded me a bit of "Suspiria". Again, it's hard to describe, because the film is completely without dialogue. It's very unsettling but still I could relate to a lot of the moments. My girlfriend and I have been discussing it the last few days. Glad to see, that there's still innovative films coming from Germany. :)

A woman is trapped in a dream like state which appear to represent various stages of her relationship.

Watching films can sometimes be a dull experience, but occasionally the planets align and you get to view something quite stirring. Austrian director Kevin Kopacka offers a genuine haunting piece of art house film with a kitchen sink of camera tricks, sound design and lighting effects. Following a series of individual arresting sequences actor Anna Heidegger's organic beauty and fine performance really enchants as you journey through her nightmare. It has a universal standing as there's little, if any dialogue, its all about visuals and Kopacka delivers more treats in his experimental short than many features manage to do.

This Berlin made short film (just shy of fifteen minutes) unfolds like a Steven Berkoff play of uneasiness. Broken up by title cards Kopacka injects Giallo's horror and psychological thriller elements into his piece. He also throws in for good measure elements reminiscent of Kubrick's The Shining and a cross section of Lynch's work to name a few, successfully borrowing from the some of the best with lingering long corridors, locked doors, shadowy figures and silhouettes. Shots with glimpses of things that seemingly supernaturally move, notable are the eerie bed clothes. There's also the haunting stillness of faces, sunsets and hazy memories.

Is it paramount that you analyse writer H.K. DeWitt's take on the five rivers of the realm of Hades and their symbolic meanings? Possibly, but it's not important, as Kopacka's Hades is about how it makes you feel with its unrelenting pressure and a sense of all-pervading paranoia and dread. The short is almost pure cinema and comes highly recommended.