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Das Verhör in der Nacht (2020)
The world is unfair
If it was fair, the opening sequence would be among the top film openers:
- the contrast in rhythm between the kammerspiel of the story and a sort of car chase at night
- the contrast between the romanticism of christmas eve and political agitation as the story unfolds.
Judith Kaufmann's cinematography and the cutting here and later in the movie are exceptional.
Gleißendes Glück (2016)
A masterpiece in directing, cinematography, acting
Don't be put off by the story which is devious, weird, even haut gout.
This is a masterpiece in directing, cinematography, acting.
Nichts als Gespenster (2006)
Watch and feel
The challenge of any film based on a book is, not to get entangled with the text, but to translate words into pictures. I think Martin Gypkens succeeded exceptionally well in Nichts als Gespenster. You still have plenty of words, but they tell you one thing, while the pictures tell you something else: the attempt of the protagonists to connect their lives in true love or friendship, and their incapacity to succeed. They want to be true friends and lovers, and from the start, they make allowance for pretense and cheating. They come close, they separate, they try again – will they ever unite? The last sequence of the film tells you what will most probably happen in the end: the camera lets the car with the Ellen and Felix in it, move away into the distance, catches up again with the car, to eventually let it go for good.
The challenge of the film is to intertwine five separate stories – each one in a different country: a road movie multiplied by 5! The cutting is quick. I had to see the film twice to really appreciate it. My recommendation: while watching the movie, don't focus on the stories, instead, focus on the feelings which happen inside the protagonists.
Kammerflimmern (2004)
This is a near perfect film
Hoelzemann might have a great future as a German film maker. The plot is subtle, the dialogs witty and understated, the acting, in particular by Schweighoefer and Kremp, great. Schweighoefer is a charismatic actor on who this film is built my wife commented that his presence reminded her of James Dean. To me the psychology of the human relations was more important than the actions the opposite of how Hollywood movies usually proceed. The scene with the suicidal girl on the roof the Cologne cathedral in the background is a game of life and death that keeps you breathless. Were it not for some sentimental, heavy scenes (in particular between November and Crash), I would rate it 10.