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Reviews
Der Parfumeur (2022)
Great actors, but there is no story
This movie features some of the most talented actors in Germany, in my humble opinion, such as the fantastic August Diehl and the wonderful Ludwig Simon, or the talented Emilia Schüle. I'm still trying to figure out what lured them into this project...
"The Perfume" by Patrick Süskind is such a great novel and is mentioned to be the source of inspiration for this movie. Unfortunately there is neither any kind of intriguing storyline, nor do we get to know the characters or their ambitions in depth, which inevitably leaves the viewer with this fragmentary piece that is hard to engage in. Some of the more odd characters, such as the female accomplice Rex, would need so much more explaination in this narrative. The viewer just can figure out what drives them to their action (despite total madness?).
It's such a pity, that the script is so bad, because the actors are as great as always. I'm suffering while watching them saying some of the most pathetic nonsense-lines from the script. They are struggling hard to make the lines work, but the dialogues and monologues are just too strange. I'm very sorry on their behalf.
L'envahisseur (2011)
Intense movie
I agree, "The Invader", had such a sophisticated beginning, I just would like to add that the first shot actually is not a mere provocation, but it is actually a pictorial quotation, which is echoing French realist painter Gustave Courbet's "L'Origine du monde", the origin of the world, in detail (I leave the implication open for interpretation).
The starting scene showing the African refugees, struggling for their lives when they are being washed ashore on the relaxed European nudist beach, while they are exposed to the strangely intense and almost devouring observation of one female nudist, is so ambiguous and meaningful, anticipating what is going to happen later in the movie: some people struggle for a decent existence, while they are being exploited by those who have it all.
What was really striking and interesting was how the angle of the movie seemed to change several times, eventually choosing to show a somewhat peculiar but also refreshingly new aspect of the refugee subject matter, which in a way makes it hard to label the movie - an interesting aspect in itself.
The last scene was almost as tricky as the first one and leaves the movie open to several interesting interpretations.
Warmly recommended!