Tuesday, December 11, 2012
THRILLER
Today's film was Marco Berger's
I really enjoyed Berger's Plan B about two guys who, ever so slowly, almost creep into falling in love with each other. A buddy film with a difference. Funny and sweet.
Today, another Berger film. Not funny. Not too sweet. But very, very good to watch.
I think this film is hard to pin down but it is somewhat "labelled" by its score which prompts us to view the events unfolding with some alarm. A thriller.
A student is taken to the hospital by a teacher for an eye injury which turns out to be non-exisitant or mild. Then, the kid can't reach his friend with whom he was going to spend the night. Then he tries to reach his grandmother with whom he stays and she is gone.
What else? The kid will have to stay with the teacher at his apartment. This is a big no-no. Way off limits.
We begin to see the kid as a stalker or a kid with a crush or perhaps a kid setting up a teacher for some blackmail. Ominous.
The teacher doesn't see it.
The plot thickens.
Then, well, it is quite worthwhile to unravel this on your own.
Berger is great at setting a mood. There are many "clues" in the cinematography. It is spooky.
Gee. And I thought we were going to see a superficial seduce the teacher film. No.
Oh. The teacher is not gay either. Or it doesn't seem that he is.
I will stop here. It has to be seen.
If I have one complaint it is that the score is a little heavy on the pedal but then, perhaps, I would not have had the feelings of menace that I really felt here.
There is a nice interview with Berger as an added feature. He is at the Berlin Film Festival and may not know his film will be the winner of best gay film. If he does then he gets even more props for humility.
I am interested enough in this film maker that I contributed a pittance to his new production now filming in Hawaii. That earned me entré to his blog. Their blog.
So I am biased. So what?
I bought this disc so I will definitely see it again.
Oh. The acting. Great. Very much on the mark. The stuff between the boy and the teacher is right on the edge of some bad shit is about to come down. Also somehow the scenes with the boy's friend. And his girl friend. They all do very well for themselves. There are twists, turns and reversals.
A 5 out of Netflix5 only it is not on Netflix yet.
Labels: films
