FREE ON CINEGEEK.DE Rainer Werner Fassbinder - Fear Eats The Soul (engl. subt.) 

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Already the opening scene gives the theme: They against us. An elderly woman, simply dressed and somewhat plump, walks into a bar and sits down at the table in the corner. She's ordering a Coke. A group of guests stares over at her. The camera shows us the distance between her and the group. The blonde bar waitress asks an Arab customer to dance with the lady. He grants his wish while the others stare... Angst essen Seele auf is a film about these two people: Emmi Kurowski (Brigitte Mira), an approximately 60-year-old widow who works as a cleaning lady and whose children she avoids. Ali (El Hedi ben Salem) is a "guest worker" around 40, a mechanic from Morocco. With five men he lives together in one room and can simply describe his life: Always work, always drunk. Ali is not even his real name, but in Germany 1974 probably all dark-skinned guest workers are called Ali (and today?). Rainer Werner Fassbinder tells her story in a nutshell - he shot the film in two weeks. Inspired by Douglas_Sirk, whom Fassbinder always admired. Fassbinder, however, omits all the ups and downs of classical melodrama and takes over only the quiet despair (he thought Hollywood films were fantastic, but dishonest). Angst essen Seele auf is so powerful because the movie works quite simply. Although the two main characters are different because of their age and origin, they have one thing in common: they like each other - in a world that is cold and indifferent. Shyly, Emmi admits that she is a building cleaner and that many would therefore look down on her. Ali only replies: "German gentleman, Arabian dog. In many Fassbinder films sex plays a certain cynical role and serves for mutual exploitation. In fear eat soul on but everything relies on tenderness. Often the Moroccan accompanies the cleaning lady home. It rains and she invites him for coffee. His journey home by bus takes a long time. She asks him to spend the night with her. He can't sleep, he wants to talk. She suggests he sit at the edge of her bed. When I saw the film again, I noticed that it was the first time he held her hand and stroked her arm in this scene. The next day she looks at herself in the mirror. Of course Emmi knows she's old. We experience an excerpt from their world. The colleagues gossip about how dirty the "guest workers" are. Emmi defends indirectly and draws attention to the fact that they are at least working. Just by being together, Emmi and Ali enrage everyone who sees them. The grocer on the other side of the street behaves foul towards Ali, the waiter in the restaurant is distant. The most memorable scene is when Emmi tells her children that she remarried. Shocked looks, finally her son Bruno hits his TV. Emmi and Ali live happily together, but within a poisoned society. Finally, the other cleaners start to no longer insult Ali. Emmi lets the women touch Ali's strong muscles. The neighbours are happy that Emmi's new husband helps carry furniture. When the new Yugoslavian cleaning lady starts work, Emmi and her colleagues turn their backs on the new foreigner. Ali, in turn, drinks in the "Arabic Bar" and walks upstairs with the blonde waitress (because she can cook cous cous). Fassbinder himself was also an outsider: small, chubby and gay. One may notice a lot of self-reflection in eating souls in fear, but also self-criticism: especially when Emmi simply takes over again the prejudices of society towards foreigners (it lives itself in a more peaceful and easier way). In many places fear eating soul is also ironic: Emmi Kurowski's first husband was after all Polish. Finally, Emmi, a grocer, flatters Emmi again to come into his business (after all, he needs her as a customer). Ali's fling with the bar service also has a sad rather than passionate touch: he misses the cous cous of his homeland. Fear eating soul on is an expression of Arabs living with fear in foreign land. Emmi finally realises that the two must be nice to each other as long as they are together. I think Fassbinder instinctively understood the meaning of the title and therefore shot the film so quickly to show us the truth.

FREE ON CINEGEEK.DE Werner Herzog - Fitzcarraldo (engl. Version)

Let me tell you about our cinegeek idea. You will get a free stream every day in good quality with english subtitles in english version. And lots of recommendations, like in our video store.

Werner Herzog's Fitzcarraldo is one of the greatest visions in the history of cinema - and also one of the greatest madness. Both complement each other splendidly and the one would probably not be possible without the other. Fitzcarraldo is the story of a madman who wants to build an opera in the jungle and therefore pulls a ship over a mountain. Werner Herzog had to do exactly the same for the film and succeeds Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald, whose story inspired Herzog. Fitzcarraldo is a daring epic (after all, Herzog could have arranged it all with special effects). But - "This is not a plastic boat" (Herzog). Fitzcarraldo (Klaus Kinski) drives a group of Rainforest Indians to pull the ship over the hill and we feel right in the middle! If you want to know more about it, watch "Burden of Dreams" (1982) by Les Blank and Maureen Gosling, a documentary about the production of Fitzcarraldo. After watching the documentary you feel that this shoot did not leave any of the participants untouched. All are connected by the reverence for the jungle, which God (if there is one) must have created in anger... (Duke). We experience Fitzcarraldo and his lover (Claudia Cardinale) approaching from the emptiness of the jungle in a boat. Both come too late, they want to go to the opera! He has earned money with an ice machine and knows his future: He will indulge in wealth, build an opera in the jungle and Caruso will perform there. Fitzcarraldo buys a piece of land that is not connected to the river. It can only be reached by those who can cross a ship without water! It is this image of the ship being pulled over the mountain that Herzog inspired for Fitzcarraldo. The rest of the script just had to be adapted. The production story reads like a chain of accidents. The first location was on the border between Peru and Ecuador and could therefore not be used in 1982. At first Jason Robards and Mick Jagger were to be cast, but both jumped off (luckily, because who could imagine Jagger in Fitzcarraldo?). Klaus Kinski is the better choice for the same reason as for a real ship: Kinski is really crazy and doesn't have to play. His anger seems almost demonic - how could anyone do that? Contrary to plan, Herzog and his team had to film in the rainforest - several kilometres away from the next town. A member of the crew only survived a snake bite by amputating his own foot. Meanwhile, Kinski Herzog is yelling at him most of the time (we see this in Herzog's documentary My best fiend. Fortunately, Fitzcarraldo hasn't become a perfect movie, but an overwhelming one! Herzog doesn't even try to push his story; he is looking for pictures! The scene, as the ship breaks loose, would have degenerated into a noisy action sequence with another director. With Herzog it slips slowly, enormously and all the more fox-influencing. Is there even a more passionate and adventurous director than him? In every big Herzog movie a passionate man challenges the wilderness. Over and over again! Producers asked Herzog if it wasn't wiser to drop the difficult project. Herzog was echauffierten over the question: A man, who dropped a project like this, he would have to live on as a man without dreams. He would rather die than exist like this! Not only the ship and Kinski are real, but Herzog is also a true Fitzcarraldo! Over and over again!

FREE ON CINEGEEK.DE City Of Men

The other day there was a report on the Corona crisis in Rio on the radio and my colleague Luanny became sad. It's a virus that mainly affects the poorest people.

 A classic mafia movie starts with the hero telling us about his dream: To become a gangster. City Of Men (just like the role model from the cinema "City Of God") dives into the slums of Rio de Janeiro, where the gangs of children assert themselves. Just like the classic mafia thrillers, City Of Men urgently deals with the individual characters, traces their path with great passion. But: Do these kids want to be gangsters? Is that their dream? No. They simply have no other choice. The slums in Rio serve a single purpose: They were built to separate the poor from the rich. At the moment my colleague Lua from the video store is sadly watching how the poorest people in the slums become the most tragic victims of the Corona crisis. No one is trying to help them. They live isolated. From this situation they once created living places; full of life music, but above all full of danger. Invisible lines exist everywhere. This gang on one side, that on the other (the police is the most powerful gang). The kids in City Of Men seem like para-military. Equipped with machine guns and walkie talkies. They work in an organized way, just like people who do their jobs. The camera whirls around them, while the streets empty out as soon as the kids arrive. City Of Men is able to show everyday life in the favelas much more clearly than the cinema film. A life with values - but without any chances. This life leads nowhere and the film knows that. Sometimes you think that the film also leads nowhere. Everyone seems to be stuck at a certain point. A feeling of grief and loss is spreading. But the favelas are not a place where only crimes are committed. The ghetto is mainly inhabited by hard-working people who want to get by somehow. They struggle to exhaustion, then return home where more work awaits them. We can guess how difficult it is to raise children in this situation. Maybe you recognize the actors Douglas Silva and Darlan Cunha from the movie? Acerola and Ace (Douglas Silva) is now the involuntary father of a child. This in turn is already being passed around among the children's gangs. Ace today is forced to deal with the subject of education. Wallace (Cunha) tries to establish a belated relationship with his father, who was in prison. Then a turf war breaks out and both find themselves on opposite sides. Co-produced by Fernando Meirelles Paulo Morelli takes over the direction. City Of Men is a TV series, not a feature film. It tells episodes of loss and resistance based on the story of Ace and Wallace. It is important that we are clearly shown how the Brazilian state denies the most basic comforts to all those people who move from rural areas to Rio to find work. Instead, these people in the favelas are being demonised. But the real violence comes from poverty and murderous police invasions alone.

FREE ON CINEGEEK.DE Das Weisse Rauschen

Our "Corona TV" is also there to present German indie films from time to time.

"When you see The White Sound, you immediately go insane. Unless he is already insane. Then he becomes normal." - A nice quote that Tobias Amann brought to mind the other day when he had a beer at our video store. Actually he doesn't like to talk about The White Sound, because his partner Hans Weingärtner didn't want to share the fame. Anyway, after the conversation I wanted to watch The White Sound again and remembered the dawn of German film back in the early 00s, the x-filme distributor and of course Daniel Brühl. He embodies Lukas, who is new in the big city and moves into his sister's flat share. Lukas knows that this is where real life begins! He immediately throws himself into the night. He takes chemical substances that he doesn't really know. I always find that remarkable. An experiment on his own body with an uncertain outcome. Most of the time the feeling of having successfully challenged the body prevails. But sometimes you hear voices, like Luke. What a horror! Lukas feels persecuted. "Paranoid schizophrenia", the doctors call it. Lukas has to fight against himself, against his own perception. A fight that drives him all the way to the Spanish Atlantic coast. There he finds something that could save him: The white noise... The scolded Weingartner himself never understood his film as a study of schizophrenia. For him, Lukas is a young man with problems of adaptation, who acts psychotically at times. Schizophrenia may well be considered the worst nightmare. One feels persecuted, betrayed by one's own perception. The contact to reality gives way to indescribable fear. This clinical picture is presented here almost like a "dogma" film. Thanks to the blurred camera, we have no choice but to watch with great effort. And that's how it should be, because The White Sound challenges us! A stroke of luck, which two film students together are responsible for. Even though one of them stole the show from the other...

FREE ON CINEGEEK.DE Jean Eustache - La Mamam Et La Putain (engl. subt.)


Today is the right day to approach the greatest (and rarest!) unknown classic of the Nouvelle Vague. Imagine sitting in a Parisian café, reading Proust and not really knowing what to do with yourself. Small alternative to: I sit at home and outside it's Corona time...

If you want to rent the DVD of La Maman Et La Putain from us, you will be disappointed. It only runs with French original sound. There have been geeks like Sulgi who simply used the dictionary to understand Eustache's classics. What a job! An epic dialogue film! The problem: Still no adequate DVD version exists. Even worse: You don't get the masterpiece as a silver disc at all. But: Today (26.4.2020) during my daily YouTube check I found out that we can enjoy La Maman Et La Putain in good picture quality with English subtitles at the moment! Let's go! Here comes THE unknown classic of the Nouvelle Vague! Eustache's by far most famous film came to the cinemas in 1973 and a whole generation embraced this permanently lamenting lazybones who prefer to have endless conversations in Parisian cafes. Jean-Pierre Leaud mimes Eustaches idol Alexandre. He lives with one woman and tells another that he loves her. Then there is the one who rejected him and various other women. Marie, played by Bernadette Lafont, lives with Alexandre and also supports him as he is usually "between jobs". Veronika (Francoise Lebrun) is Alexandre's blind date in a cafe, to whom he presents his not really high-flying thoughts (while his looks follow other women in the immediate vicinity). Alexandre is not stupid, but not intellectual either. He makes no significant progress in his self-discovery. He likes to babble about movies and life (although he often gets confused). He wears a dark coat and a scarf that reaches down to his knees. His friend wears the same. Alexandre spends his days in cafés holding Proust in front of him, but not reading in it. Just like the guys in the state library who "forget" the classics in their reading place when pretty girls are around. I think that even though Alexandre seems to be at the center of La Maman Et La Putain, Eustache's film is more interested in his female characters. Couldn't it be that the women just circle around him because they are curious about what strange things he will tell next? What kind of idiocy do you think he's about to unload? Leauds best role was that of the young Antoine-Doinel, since then he varies this as a childish side in the actually already grown up man. While Alexandre struts like a puppet through the Parisian cafes, the real drama takes place in the figure of Veronica. Veronika should know that Alexandre only talks to her about love while Marie is absent. When Veronika talks about herself, we recognize the deep and unadulterated knowledge of herself. The portrait of a childish man exerted enormous influence from his time - but it is time to see Eustache's film in a different light for once

FREE ON CINEGEEK.DE Jacques Rivette - La Belle Noiseuse (engl. subt.)

It was in a hot August afternoon. I was, I think, in 7th grade and had rented La Belle Noiseuse from the Videodrom on VHS. The long version, over six hours. My mother told me that it was impossible to watch TV in this weather. No? I just wanted to have a quick look - and I couldn't stop. That's how fantastic this film is!

Frenhofer, the great artist, hasn't painted anything for ten years. He threw everything away while working on his masterpiece, which he wanted to call La Belle Noiseuse. His model: his own wife Elizabeth, the inspiration for the most successful part of Frenhofer's career. At first, according to Elizabeth, Frenhofer painted her because she loved him. Finally, she explains, because he loved her. Then he stopped, fearing that the work would destroy that love. Frenhofer does not see the outside, he depicts the inside of his models. Bones, sinews, the soul. One day three visitors knock on the door of the chateaus where Frenhofer still lives with Elizabeth in seclusion. A collector, a young painter and his friend Marianne. Marianne is distant, unapproachable and of strong will. During dinner together, Frenhofer looks at Marianne - and this look describes their entire relationship. Marianne senses this, she wants to get away from him, because she is aware of the feelings behind Frenhofer's gaze: he will start painting again. Jacques Rivette's film La Belle Noiseuse is the best film I have ever seen about the creation of art! It is also the greatest film about the painful relationship between an artist and his muse. Rivette's film has a running time of over four hours. He also edited a shortened divertimento version - but what for? The great thing about La Belle Noiseuse is that it spends time creating art - and the sprouting, and eventual destruction, of passion. Frenhofer is played by Michel Piccoli, whose eyes can penetrate other actors. With his high forehead he seems intelligent, but we sense; it is a terrible intelligence. Emmanuelle Béart is a perfect beauty with deep eyes, full lips - and impressive willpower. We can understand what Frenhofer sees in Marianne. His wife Elizabeth (Jane Birkin) understands it too. She warns Marianne not to let Frenhofer paint her eyes. The painting could deprive the model of her vitality (We notice a touch of Oscar Wilde in this idea). So much for the plot, but it doesn't bother us as such. The strongest scenes of the film, they concentrate entirely on creating a work of art. In his brick hall, his studio, Frenhofer begins to sketch Marianne. We look over his shoulder (which Rivette allows us to do in very long takes). A physical process, how he obsessively sorts his pencils, brushes and paints. The first strokes, then oil. Frenhofer assigns Marianne a wardrobe; she understands, takes off her coat and will be naked for the next four hours. First we consider Emmanuelle Béart as a woman, then as a model. Slowly we see what Frenhofer means: her innermost being, her essence, her being. He moves her arms and legs like those of a doll. She complains about her legs falling asleep and asks for a cigarette. Frenhofer takes it away from her and bends it back into position. Does it sound boring just to watch a man painting? Not at all! Tension is slowly built up. A fight for the stronger will develops. Marianne is an imposition, a nuisance. Elizabeth translates "noiseuse" as "nutty". Marianne is crazy. This is what Frenhofer wants! She begins to understand and agrees to her determination. Now it is Marianne who drives the work. The day La Belle Noiseuse is finished, we don't get to see it. Marianne describes how she saw something in it, cold and dry - herself. That must be enough for us. At night Elizabeth sneaks into the studio and realizes: she marks the painting with a cross. It marks Frenhofer's death. Now imagine this atmosphere with the sounds Rivette uses in the old castle. We hear the wind in the woods outside and in the old walls, kicks, the slamming of an old door. It's no coincidence that La Belle Noiseuse seems like a haunted movie. Elizabeth mentioned that the old walls are haunted. We hear the scratching of the pencils on the paper (and increasingly loudly). During one scene we see Marianne bent under a cross. At first she cries softly, then she starts to laugh - more and more. The scratching of the pencils, we think we can still hear it, although Frenhofer has put it aside. It is said that the nouvelle vage took place only because of him: Jacques Rivette. He himself was never as famous as his companions. Rivette's films turned out to be too long and complicated for that. But in La Belle Noiseuse I don't see the slightest difficulty! I wish the film to be as long as it is - not a minute less! I sympathized with the struggle in the studio, with the bond that was created. Piccoli embodies exactly Frenhofer's Vorst Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

FREE ON CINEGEEK.DE Patrice Leconte - Monsieur Hire

How many weekends is that now without our Filmkunstbar Fitzcarraldo? It breaks my heart. The only consolation is that films are also available for free, independently of Amazon & co, in good quality with English subtitles as the Filmkunstbar Fitzcarraldo service for the neighbours.

Loneliness and erotomania. In French films and novels firmly connected with each other. Monsieur Hire by Patrice Leconte is a tragedy of two lonely people who otherwise have nothing in common. Monsieur Hire (Michel Blanc) is bald and thin. Alice (Sandrine Bonnaire) in her early twenties, blond and beautiful. She lives in the backyard; Monsieur Hire in front. At the very beginning there is a murder. One saw a small, thin man. Hire? During the investigation it becomes clear that none of the neighbors likes Hire. He knows that. Something about him repels people. You stare at him. As he walks across the backyard, someone throws white powder at his flawless black suit. All about Hire is flawless. The shoes shine, the hair is trimmed. Alice, on the other hand, has a sunny, open laugh. Night after night Hire watches her - until a thunderstorm brightly illuminates its shadow behind the window. Until then, he has watched her hour after hour. How she undresses, sleeps with her boyfriend, how she prepares breakfast, irons her clothes... It is based on a novel by Georges Simenon, in which he observes human nature. Just like Leconte in his film. In captivating simplicity. The film is shot in colour. Only Hire appears black and white. His shirts, his suit. And his skin is as pale as if he would never leave the apartment. Alice loves red. Her dress, the lipstick. Once she drops tomatoes. Hire is not far away. Will he rush to help? No, he's just watching her. Once she knocks on his door. Hire does not open. He never receives visitors. But finally he goes out for dinner with Alice and confesses; yes, he has also watched her have sex. A beginning. The surprise: Alice has something like feelings for Hire. Very complicated feelings. And his declaration of love touches her. Hire shares intimate secrets with Alice. He spends a lot of money on whores. But now he has fallen in love with Alice and will never be able to pay a whore again. Hire is a man of secrets. One of his secret abilities: He plays bowling perfectly. Backwards with his eyes blindfolded. Above all, he is a man of great sadness. The film focuses on the question what nature Alice's feelings for Hire are. Do we even dare to hope for a good ending? Patrice Leconte is certainly the greatest unknown auteur filmmaker in France. With a diverse oeuvre full of equally touching films. If you want to discover him, I have arranged the films of Leconte, Patrice just as in our authors order. Just rent all the DVDs! It's best to start with Monsieur Hire. You will be moved to tears. I promise!

FREE ON CINEGEEK.DE Ghost World

Life in a ghost world, surrounded by old vinyl records, comics and quirky collectibles. That's our topic today on "Corona TV".

What's it like to feel all alone in the world and have only ironic comments left for the environment? Sarcasm that nobody understands? Enid from Ghost World is such a lonely girl. Just 18 years old, she's abandoned by L.A. Enid, it seems, trying to cheer herself up with ironic remarks that nobody but her receives. Enid perceives life as lying and stupid, while she feels like a punk from the 70s. Enid mocks everything around her. Thora Birch plays this clever outsider, Rebecca (Scarlett Johansson) at her side. In every school there is such a couple: two outsiders, back to back against the world. But Rebecca now tries to get on after finishing school, while Enid surrounds herself with records, films and retro of the 50s. She answers the personal ad of the poor loner Seymour (Steve Buscemi) out of mischief. Enid begins to like Seymour, his world of 78 records and old advertising art. During the day Seymour is a meaningless employee at Fried Chicken, at night he catalogues his records and reflects on how it is possible to meet a woman. Enid's relationship with Seymour: "He's the exact opposite of all the things I hate." And Seymour's relationship to Enid? But Ghost World is not a romance in which opposites attract each other to finally experience a happy ending. Enid and Seymour just both feel misunderstood. They send signals to the world out there that nobody understands. In this respect they are soul mates. Seymour's character has two role models: He is an image of the director Terry Zwigoff, who had previously staged the documentary Crumb. The second role model: Robert Crumb. The film is based on the graphic novel of the same name by Daniel Clowes, who also wrote the script. Ghost World is a film you simply have to love! In the most beautiful scene, some collectors meet at Seymour's home. Lonely men speaking cryptically to each other. Enid must find this strange, but it's Seymour who captivates the girl with his sincerity (who knows no tact) and catches her. Ghost World is so credible, with kind characters and never losing his sense of humor - like bypassing the usual happy ending! The end of Zwigoff's film is much more poetic, even literary than a normal Hollywood film could produce. Above all, it is true! Enid and Seymour could both solve their problems within a very short time, but they remain stuck in a standstill. The fact that they meet each other brings movement into both lives. Isn't that a happy ending?

FREE ON CINEGEEK.DE Louis Malle - The Fire Within


Today a less known Nouvelle Vague classic - with the music of Eric Satie and Jeanne Moreau!

FREE ON YOUTUBE If you don't like film adaptations of literature, because what books do well is far from what makes good films, you can breathe a sigh of relief: Louis Malle's The Fire Withing is NOT an adaptation of Scott Fitzgerald's "Babylon Revisited". Malle is only inspired by Scott Fitzgerald. And indeed, Malle's hero reads the story of Scott Fitzgerald during these last days before he kills himself. Both men are running something of a parallel story. In our video store, Louis Malle is still one of the less popular representatives of the Nouvelle Vague - although for me he is the best filmmaker of this generation! But that has its advantages, too, because that way I can give you Malle's films like unearthed treasures. On the surface, Malle's hero Alain (Maurice Ronet) resembles Fitzgerald himself. A Parisian writer and former playboy who lived in New York for a while, but was divorced from his wife there. An alcoholic who lost his confidence in his art as well as his masculinity. He lives in a confused, very private world. It must be extraordinarily lonely there! He speaks softly to himself, hums, moves silently in his room. In his thoughts he is busy with his own death. Then he travels to Paris, visits some of his friends. He drinks far too much, makes a fool of himself at a party. Basically, he questions the value of his friends' middle-class existence. Then he returns home and gets it over with. Very calm and significant. He doesn't have to explain much, we understand enough as it is. In the worried, indifferent, friendly and at the same time cruel behaviour of his friends towards him, we recognise ourselves. We would treat people like him in the same way. Malle's film is above all a triumph of style! Accompanied by the music of Eric Satie, full of jump cuts or allusions to Marilyn-Monroe. P.S. No wonder The Fire Within is the favorite movie of the great stylist Wes-Anderson, isn't it?

FREE ON CINEGEEK.DE Pier Paolo Pasolini - Porcile


Teorema is the most popular Pasolini film with us and Porcile continues Teorema. A nice Monday evening television program!

I don't understand Porcile. Best I sleep on it for a night and watch it again tomorrow. Then I can still decide if Porcile is: a) one of Pasolini's greatest films - or b) a total failure. Pasolini, this strange filmmaker, was a Freudian and Marxist, but that didn't stop him from making a brilliant film about the life of Jesus Christ. Some even claim that Pasolini's other films are also about Jesus. However, this is not a dogmatic opinion, because Pasolini films are provocative and often obscene. Less erotic, by the way. When we organized Pasolini nights in our old cinema (you know, one of those mattress cinemas), the audience would puff and giggle. But was that their honest reaction or just an act of defense? Pasolini films can be considered a turning point. Films that no one was prepared for and that changed everything back then, in the late 60s. Just the kind of film you don't think about too much! Over the next few days, if one or two thoughts about Porcile come to your mind, remember: every film deserves to be seen as a whole. They are not made to be analyzed! Porcile had the German title "Der Schweinestall". That fits. It tells the story of a hermit. Somewhere in a strangely remote desert, he becomes the leader of a cannibalistic horde. Beyond time. Meanwhile, the son of a German entrepreneur has a sodomitic love of pigs. So the father is blackmailed by a Nazi criminal. Again and again it's been written that Porcile begins where "Teorema" ends. In the desert. In the promised land. Where it all began. And at the desert's edge you can see civilization. But what does he really find there at the edge of the desert? Soldiers. Germans: The worst kind of capitalism. You'll notice that Pasolini was a man of the last century. An intellectual, a philosopher, a writer too. An open-minded gay man who made caustic comments about modern society. In 1975 he was beaten to death, when he had just finished his last film "Sado"...

FREE ON CINEGEEK.DE Vittorio de Sica - Shoeshine

Shoeshine is such a wonderful film - it made me think a lot. It is about how we all live isolated from each other. There are needy people - especially in our Corona crisis - who lack a small amount of money that would not hurt others. And this lack drives them to despair.

Vittorio de Sica's films deal with the tragedy of everyday life. About pain - but also about the beauty of life! If you know de Sica as an actor, you will be surprised how this attractive man, who loves to be the cavalier in sentimental love comedies, could become one of the greatest tragic filmmakers ever? One thing, however, you will notice when you see de Sica's neo-realist films twice: just like his light comedies, his social dramas are great audience films! Basically, de Sica adopted a lot of what he had learned as an actor in his directing work. There is this famous statement of de Sica that EVERYONE is able to play at least one role: Yourself. That's why de Sica instructed amateur actors. Later he was to shoot with real stars, but de Sica's early films with non-actors touch me most. His extraordinary films of the 1940s and early 1950s - the phase they called neorealism. I translate Neorealism primarily as showing social injustice. Of course there are more principles, but that would become "scientific" at this point... The recourse to amateur actors is surely born out of necessity. In Italy after the war there was no money for such social dramas, just like today. But it also results from a simple equation: If there are only about 50 film stars who are cast again and again - how could they be able to portray the lives of so many? When we once screened de Sica in our small cinema, the audience was really excited. Completely thrilled! Sure, because de Sica doesn't present the misery of this world in a documentary way, but rather in the form of a poetic poem. Shoeshine is at heart - like de Sica's other neo-realist films - a masterpiece about how communication fails. Everything begins with an illusion. Then two boys, two friends, are placed in different cells in prison. They are separated. In this way each loses trust in the other. The language fails, they no longer understand each other. Man achieves nothing with words! Everyone stands alone and isolated from the others in the world. Does this remind you of our present Corona time today? It reminds me a lot! Everyone, caught in his loneliness, asks for donations and loans or support. But no help comes. Winning or persuading others fails. No charity, no sympathy. Characters like the boys in Shoeshine exist all around us. But they are ignored by us. They are invisible. The lack of what would be a small amount of money for us drives them to despair. Through the art of de Sica, such people are made visible for the duration of a film! And what happens to de Sica's heroes? They are often forced to make moral compromises. That means they become exactly what they condemn. In Shoeshine they develop into murderers and traitors. They simply suffer too much to become heroes or even saints. P.S. The sadness in Shoeshine is not inevitable. It is a consequence of the social structure.

Filmkunstbar Fitzcarraldo Crowd Funding to pay our colleagues

This is not Tony Manero, but my friend and colleague Sebastien in our bar. We will be closed until August, which is a big headache for me and my colleagues. And not only me, but all the clubs/bars/restaurants/cafes in Berlin. The state aid money is not enough under any circumstances. Nothing against internet start-ups, but in our gastronomy and nightlife there are 1000 times more people working. Just like Sebastien. They get 60% of their salary and no tips. That's harsh. So if you have any money left, I ask you to donate to my colleagues. All money goes directly to them. I'd also like the city and the federal government to suggest solutions.

FREE ON CINEGEEK.DE Vittorio de Sica - Bicycle Thieves


I love Bicycle Thieves so much! This is exactly what I expect from FILM: After the credits roll, I'm on my feet somewhere else in the world of Bicycle Thieves. And I have thoughts that were stimulated by this film alone!

Vittorio de Sica's Bicyle Thieves is such a venerable masterpiece, praised in every encyclopaedia, that I was truly amazed at how vivid and fresh the film still is today! Sure, in 1949 the film was awarded an Oscar and since then, in pure routine, it has been counted among the greatest films of all time. But actually it is a simple film about a man who is looking for work. The director Vittorio de Sica was firmly convinced of one fact: That each of us can really play ONE role - himself! Bicycle Thieves was written by Cesare Zavattini, who is considered the father of Italian Neorealism. He wrote a famous essay about how he and de Sica searched for characters in real life. It was the time after the Second World War and Italy was paralyzed by poverty. The story is quickly told. Lamberto Maggiorani, a non-actor, embodies Ricci, a man who every morning makes the hopeless attempt to find work. But one day he succeeds: a job is offered to a man who owns a bicycle. And Ricci owns a bike! But he had to pawn it. Only with great effort Ricci and his wife manage to cash in the bicycle and Ricci is able to work as a postman. One day he carelessly parks his bicycle without plugging it in. We expect it to be stolen - but the bike is still in its place when Ricci returns. But then it is actually stolen - no doubt by another man looking for a job. Ricci, together with his little son Bruno (Enzo Staiola), tries to catch the thief. But HOW in the winding streets of Rome? And of course the police are no help. Ricci finally gives up and teaches his son that life means nothing but suffering. You live and you suffer. To hell with life! - and that's why Ricci and his son are eating a pizza. To be able to afford it, you'd have to earn a million lira a month, Ricci told Bruno. But a moment later, Ricci discovers the bicycle thief and follows him to a brothel. An ugly crowd is waiting there. A policeman approaches, but he can't help, because there are no witnesses except Ricci himself. What should Ricci do? Finally he himself is tempted to steal a bike in this cycle of poverty and theft. Bicycle Thieves is told so directly that it resembles more a parable than a drama. Sometimes it might be a little bit disappointing that Ricci's character basically only seems to be really alive in the pizzeria scene. But this might be because of the character of the parable. Nevertheless, Ricci is a timeless character. A man who does everything to protect his family. Who could not identify with him? And seriously; who doesn't have to cry after Bicycle Thieves - what does this man feel anyway? Neorealism as a term can mean a lot. But above all I understand it to mean films from everyday social life, born in the poverty after the war. In Bicycle Thieves, de Sica introduces the neo-realist world in a very pointed way, at the moment when Ricci is looking for his bicycle in front of a big "Rita Hayworth" poster. Here the neo-realist world, there Hollywood. The key message is that in a better society, prosperity would be more fairly distributed.

FREE ON CINEGEEK.DE David Lynch - Blue Velvet


Luckily there is always nice weather and since our Filmkunstbar Fitzcarraldo is still closed, I have retired to the country. To the Berlin suburbs, where many, many garden fences have been erected. Somehow it reminded me of the white garden fence in Blue Velvet...

I regularly watched Blue Velvet with my band. As a teenager. That's because the film is as immature as teenagers. Blue Velvet contains some very emotional scenes, very painful and hurtful. It almost seems as if they belong to another movie, a melodrama. But Blue Velvet is a satire, a black comedy. David Lynch's film has two levels of reality. On the first one we find ourselves in Lumberton, a small town in the 50s, where the inhabitants talk as if they had grown up in a TV series. The second level tells the tortures of sexual bondage. Dorothy Vallens (Isabella Rossellini) husband and child were kidnapped by a madman named Frank Boothe (Dennis Hopper). Frank has kept Dorothy as his sexual slave ever since - meeting her most secret desires and preferences. While the plane of Lumbertown is told with almost expressionless irony, the plane of sexual hostage-taking reaches a terrible depth of cruel realism. The very first scene of the film refers to both levels. A man is watering his lawn when he suffers a stroke and falls to the ground. The camera follows the insects in the grass and dives into the shallows hidden beneath the surface. Kyle MacLachlan plays Jeffrey Beaumont, the son of the sick man who comes home to check on his parents. He begins a romance with the blond small-town beauty Sandy Williams (Laura Dern), the daughter of the local police chief. Jeffrey finds a cut off human ear. His attempt to find out the secret of the ear leads him to the apartment of the singer Dorothy Vallens. He witnesses how Dorothy is haunted by Frank Boothe, the pervert who takes drugs with a nitrous oxide mask. Dorothy discovers the secret witness in her bathroom after Frank disappears. To his amazement, she threatens Jeffrey with a knife in order to be tormented by him. Jeffrey beats Dorothy. This scene has so much power that we expect Lynch to explore the abysses of this incipient relationship. Instead, he devotes himself to the satire of his small town of Lumbertown, whose surface is of such ridiculous smoothness that we must expect shallows below. Blue Velvet has become a dark comedy, not a relationship drama. Dorothy Valens is not the center of the film, although her scenes move us the most. Lynch gives Dennis Hopper's Frank the most attention. Frank is supposed to scare us, but the truth is we have to laugh. Hopper's career, which had already stagnated before Blue Velvet, then catapulted him into the front row of Hollywood's character mimes. Blue Velvet ultimately makes fun of himself. The human drama serves the sole purpose of making the subsequent black comedy seem even more absurd. Because Frank is a monster; Dennis Hopper, however, is so good that we have to laugh. Many of my generation know his dialogues by heart. When Frank yells "Heeeeineken!" Frank has a point. Heineken is really not a good beer. I told you Blue Velvet was a very immature film.

FREE ON CINEGEEK.DE Francis Ford Coppola - One From The Heart


What a beautiful, wonderfully kitschy film! And the best thing is: hardly anyone knows it!

Accompanied by sound and smoke Francis Ford Coppola's One From The Heart finally made it to the cinema in 1981. Until then you could read a lot about the production and little about the stars of the film. For sure a new experience! You learned how Coppola supervised his production by means of a specially invented video technology. Coppola could see on a TV monitur what his cameraman was filming through the lens. Malicious tongues claimed that he turned an eight million dollar project into a 23 million "blockbuster". We know the end: Coppola went bankrupt, he had to sell his beloved studios and from then on he had to do small commissions during the 80s. To this day, One From The Heart is virtually unknown. Wrongfully so! Because like hardly any other film he stylizes a whole decade - the 80s! Even more: One From The Heart is a pure facade, without content. That's what people always hated in the 80s. Or loved it! Back then, in 1981, people talked mainly about the process of creation. It was supposed to be neutral, a means to an end! And the film itself? I find it desolate in terms of content, yes, the narrative rhythm is missing. It all seems like a ballet of camera movements and breathtaking sets, but the characters get lost in it. There is no moment when we even care about who is being hurt. The actors never reach US, the audience, in Coppola's technical marvel. The narrator Coppola became a technician. Obviously, One From The Heart is not intended for the audience. Coppola acts cinematically like an engineer who put technical results before humanity. But - we are in the dawn of the 80s! Blockbuster cinema replaced "New Hollywood", art became mainstream, style replaced substance. That's why Coppola's actors must never dominate. They don't represent characters, but act exemplary as guys. Coppola depicts them in the picture just like pieces of furniture. He gives them close-ups; sometimes they glow in deep red or dull green, are positioned in front of fancy sets or choreographed in crowds - but we never get close to them. They (Teri Garr and Frederic Forrest) are inhabitants of a Las Vegas of disappointment, boredom and glittering lights. For a while they break out of their dull life with new lovers (Raul Julia and the box office poison of the early 80s, Nastassja Kinski) who tease them with dreams and fantasies. I think it's about how extremely boring people spend an extraordinary night in the city. But the city (and especially the Las Vegas in Coppola's production), crushes them and spits them out again. To enjoy One From The Heart, it is necessary to turn away from the frame story. The life of Coppola's boring couple is just as boring for us to watch! But we will enjoy his pictures of an unreachable world! Only moments are tangible; this is true for Coppola's boring couple as well as for us. For example Harry Dean Stanton as the shabby operator of a scrap yard. Or Nastassja Kinski, who looks even more beautiful here than ever before! Kinski, the sad circus girl who realizes, "To make a circus girl disappear, all you have to do is blink your eyes." Somehow, Coppola's film has also disappeared in the splendor of its set. ...so he invented something new. It's called "Style Over Substance. "

FREE ON CINEGEEK.DE Jacques Audiard - A Prophet

The center of Un Prophet is a murder - a clumsy and incredibly brutal murder. We see the killer shaking - whether it is out of grief, relief or anger we do not know. This is exactly the key to Jacques Audiard's greatest film: We see something and yet we cannot understand it. Perhaps this is also because we witness extreme violence that is foreign to us. Murderers like the one in Un Prophet live in another world. The film functions as a developmental story of Malik (Tahar Rahim), a young Frenchman with Arabic roots. He goes to prison as a petty criminal and leaves as a certified gangster. He was born as a shy, passive loser; at first, true evil is still foreign to him. All he became, he learned in prison. I can hardly remember ever having seen such a character in a prison film! We don't know why he was sent to prison, we are only witnesses of how he loses his innocence. Behind bars he joins the Corsican gang that controls everything. It is led by Cesar Luciani (Niels Arestrup), a godfather with cold eyes. In prison he is accompanied by bodyguards and has his spies everywhere. The new guy is useful for him, as he has access to the Arab gang. One of them is to be murdered. Basically quite simple: Cesar teaches Malik how to hide a razor blade in his mouth. It is used to cut the victim's throat. If Malik refuses, he dies. Kill or die. Malik's never killed before, and he'll mess up the job. There's a struggle, and everything's covered in blood. But Cesar helps to cover up the crime. Malik's not a "man," but a survivor who does what's necessary. And he's a quick learner. Over the years he changes, takes the chance in prison that he was never given in the outside world. He learns how to monitor, develop a strategy and even how to read. But for the Corsicans, he will always be the "dirty" Arab. But maybe this is exactly the reason why he becomes Cesar's confidant. Mallik can no longer go back to the Arabs. There's no place for him except at Caesar's side. This partnership with Cesar improves not least Malik's own position in prison. One would almost like to see this position as the end of a history of education. Arestrup as Cesar is the event of Un Prophet! In all of Jacques Audiard's films there are these memorable performances, but Cesar surpasses them all! Cesar sees everything, but does not want to be perceived himself. That's why he has to direct and control his aggression. As long as he controls it, he retains the power over life and death. His greatest moments, they are mostly silent. Decisions are made and implemented coldly. And Malik, the new guy? An enigma. We don't know what he thinks, can't even guess. It's probably the quality Audiard wanted to achieve. Nothing gets out of him and hiding feelings is Cesar's most important lesson for Malik. Here Audiard follows on from the stylized gangster classics of the 60s. This is unfashionable in the best sense of the word, because far too many films want to force on us what the protagonists are thinking and why. But how much more fascinating is it to grope in the dark? Malik? He's ready to kill. We can only judge him by his actions. But that makes it scary, because a killer without motives is only all the more terrifying. Malik was once someone who cared about life. But all that changes during his bloody act in prison. Now he's ready for the streets...

FREE ON CINEGEEK.DE Federico Fellini - La Strada

Sitting at home for a month, playing through Amazon & Netflix, all those oh so smart series and then again a superhero. And at some point you realize you haven't seen a real movie in years. Like La Strada.

Compared to Fellini's later films, La Strada seems simple. A fable, but which already celebrates the desire for obsessive visual games, if you look closer: There is the circus, a parade and a figure floating between heaven and earth. One woman is a child of the street, another a monster. And of course La Strada plays not only on the country roads, but also on the sea coast. If I were a film critic, I would probably write about a bridge film from Neorealism to Fellini's later extravagances. But I am only a video store owner. For the first time, at any rate, you can see what will later be christened "Felliniesque". Performance of the powerhouse Zampano (Anthony Quinn). Zampano lives in a run-down caravan, which he pulls with a motorcycle. From a poor widow he buys her daughter Gelsomina (Giulietta Masina), to whom he is very cruel. Nevertheless Gelsomina admires him, because Zampano can play the trumpet. Zampano joins a travelling circus, is mocked by a fool, freaks out and ends up in prison. The fool seems to like Gelsomina, but recognizes very well her strong bond to Zampano. The fool retreats, grants Gelsomina and Zampano a common happiness. But Zampano, in raging jealousy, kills the fool. What kind of an end threatens Zampano? A typical Fellini ending: The desperate man turns to the sea. But the sea has no answers. And Giulietta Masina? Actually, in all later Fellini movies she always played Gelsomina. The purest embodiment of innocence. Zampano is not more intelligent than Gelsomina. He's an outcast, too. A libertine. His tragedy is, that he loves her. But Zampano doesn't realize it. He instinctively turns away from love and warmth. Most of Fellini's characters do that! He's the strong man, caught between heaven and earth. I almost wrote hell. Torn between the spiritual and the carnal. Fellini will always return to this circus world. Like a second home, this world will become for the real Fellini geek. And the master's films? Like old, good friends who are always happy to be invited back.

Crowd Funding Filmkunstbar Fitzcarraldo Kolleagues

This is my friend Ashley, the one on the right. He's a dancer - you'd be surprised how good! Next to him is a guest, whom I've disguised as a guest. Ash works for us and so I'm of course, with your help, trying to supplement his salary during this crisis. Provided that your money is still enough of course! Write to Martin

FREE ON CINEGEEK.DE Robert Thalheim - Netto


Many of my friends are really afraid for their future. The "Corona" period really sucks! But think about the Berlin of the post-reunification period, how much their jobs lost. Nevertheless, that's exactly the stuff of the comedy "Netto". You know what I mean?

Today - on 13.4.2020 - I found "Netto" free on YouTube. In good quality, but in some places the sound is missing, because of the music rights. Don't be annoyed because of that! - When I had the idea to found a Cinethek in the early 00s (that means: a video library with films from all over the world & all decades), a promising upswing in German film was taking place. The sticky relationship comedy from Cologne or Munich, in which "man" was a journalist and "woman" an architect, gave way to films that finally came from Berlin and played in reality. For the first time we saw unemployed people or losers of the turnaround. For the first time ever we saw the "new" federal states! I was thrilled, watching one German film after another! How would it be to be there from the beginning and discover something for yourself? Who knows, maybe the next "Godard" or "Truffaut"? Robert Thalheim's debut Netto is exactly such a film. Thalheim studied at the HFF Konrad Wolf in the seminar of Professor Rosa v. Praunheim. With a budget of 5000 Euro he realized this drama and reached 20.000 viewers according to wikipedia! The DVD was then even released by Sony. It is a father-son story, but with swapped roles. Sebastian (Sebastian Butz) lives with his mother in Berlin, but she moves to the suburbs with her new partner. But Sebastian wants to go to his father Marcel (Milan Peschel) in Prenzlauer Berg! In his shabby apartment he is allowed to sleep on the coach. Marcel is a turnaround loser who went bankrupt with his first business. One who still dreams of big money and considers himself an extraordinary "security" expert. But he never writes applications. This is where Sebastian comes in, teaching his whiny father how to conduct job interviews - and lo and behold, for the first time Marcel is actually invited and wants to buy an expensive tie for himself. Of course there is a scandal when buying a tie and of course Marcel has no chance to get the job (which he hides from his son). In this condition Sebastian now steps in front of his father to introduce his new girlfriend Nora (Stephanie Charlotta Koetz) to him. Nora, however, still knows the father, had to remove him from the pub once drunk and disappears. Apparently Marcel has no choice anymore... At times Netto looks like a documentary. No wonder, because Thalheim and his team shot this "exercise" in only 17 days of shooting and improvised as much as possible. This resulted in the most beautiful scenes, such as the one of the snack bar philosophy: Marcel gives one of his lectures at the snack bar, but you can't see the host. By now, Netto is already history. We experience the district of Prenzlauer Berg as it no longer exists. Today there is no Marcel philosophizing at the snack bar anymore. Today southern German neighbours call the police for such incidents.

FREE ON CINEGEEK.DE Jim Jarmusch - Down By Law

A little good humor from the swamps of Louisiana? Here comes the third film from Jim Jarmusch!

Down By Law is about cheap whiskey and black coffee.  About taking any dirty job and living the life of a complete loser. Only girls offer some variety. Together: a pimp, an unemployed DJ and a confused tourist from Italy. They escape from prison, make their way through the swamps of Louisiana and search for a breakfast place. Filmed by copy & past from blues songs, prison movies and old thrillers. "It's a sad and beautiful world," someone noticed. Right. Can you choose not to be a loser? Can you buy the American dream? Tom Waits, John Lurie, and Roberto Benigni will explore these questions. They will meet in a prison cell and become victims of a whole chain of misfortunes. Two of them hate each other. But what is hatred against this all over happy and satisfied Italian? In any case, they escape together, drag themselves through the swamps and encounter every single cliché that seems possible. They may be there in Louisiana, but in reality they're in an art world borrowed from "pulp novels" and "film noir" classics. A grim film, but infused with serenity. Are we even supposed to take all this seriously? Like every Jim Jarmusch film, Down By Law sometimes suffers from lengths. And by being too busy with its hip surface instead of actually trying to have some real conversations. But Down By Law is an original and probably gets better with every run!

Crowd Funding Filmkunstbar Fitzcarraldo: Our colleague Kyros

This is my friend Kyros. We have been working together since 2010 and currently we are producing the final song for our bar. Kyros is a family father and unfortunately the money for "Kurzarbeit" is not enough for him. So at this point I would like to ask you to support my friend Kyros a little bit. This is possible with our Crowd Funding here: https://de.gofundme.com/f/filmkunstbar-fitzcarraldo

FREE ON CINEGEEK.DE Julian Schnabel - Basquiat


I have the feeling that since the Corona quarantine there is wonderful weather every day! What do you do on a Good Friday like this? A walk followed by a movie - hold on tight! - David Bowie, Dennis Hopper, Willem Dafoe, Benicio del Toro, Christopher Walken, Gary Oldman and even Courtney Love!

No more participating in the world, forgetting the inner voice of reason, surrendering to painting... Jean-Michel Basquiat managed not to participate most of his life, to devote himself to painting. Basquiat is the debut of the painter Julian Schnabel and he understands him, also because Schnabel was a friend of Basquiat. Schnabel remembers that Basquiat was a taciturn man who often lost touch with a conversation. Basquiat was a dreamer. A lovable man, but also full of grief and anger. Mostly he preferred not to reveal this side to the world and preferred a mask: That of passivity. Basquiat, a middle-class child, became one of the most important artists during the early 1980s in New York's Soho district. His anonymous graffiti was already known in New York in the late 70s. Later, Basquiat admitted to standing behind the pseudonym SAMO that many admired in New York. Basquiat painted everything, furniture, objects, even his girlfriend's pictures. When Andy Warhol and a well-known collector bought his postcards for the first time, his career began. In the film, Warhol and the Collector are played by David Bowie and Dennis Hopper. Basquiat (Jeffrey Wright, whose game is as opaque as the artist himself) lived for some time as a homeless person and for a while in a cardboard box. Sneaking out of his middle-class home, he slipped into his own world. Even for his girlfriend Gina (Claire Forlani) Basquiat remained a mystery. Like all drug addicts he was mainly concerned with himself and his emotional world. In the New York art world he quickly became a star (as we can see from the works of art in Schnabel's film, we can easily understand why people liked his works so much). The art dealer Rene Ricard (Michael Wincott) promised Basquiat at a party to make him a star. Basquiat made friends with Andy Warhol (who is played so strikingly by David Bowie that I often thought Bowie was Warhol!). Drugs were part of Basquiat's essence and Warhol was one of the few to understand that. His best old-time friend Benny (Benicio Del Toro), on the other hand, dropped Basquiat because of his self-destructive instincts. It was quite obvious to everyone that Basquiat was in trouble, but also that he was finally living in his own world. Julian Schnabel is an intimate connoisseur of the New York art world (we see his own works, which in the film are assigned to an artist played by Gary Oldman). Through the cast of Dennis Hopper and Bowie, the film level and reality seem to overlap. Schnabel also has a fine ear for Basquiat's misconduct: Basquiat will prove that there is not a single black painter worth mentioning. Basquiat was an artist, he was wrong in his judgment and logical thinking. His madness grew steadily; in the end he wore wooden shoes with the inscription "Titanic". On 12.8.1988 he died.

FREE ON CINEGEEK.DE Martin Scorsese - Taxi Driver

I'm in the best mood right now, because who cares about fucking Corona, when I just found taxi drivers in good quality on YouTube for you? Taxi Driver at your leisure, to watch it again. What a movie! I mean: WHAT A MOVIE!

Today - on 8.4.2020 - I found a link to Taxi Driver on YouTube in good quality. Check it out quickly, because this link will be deleted soon. In this case, just enter the movie title directly on YouTube and find a new link to Taxi Driver. Got it? Let's go to the movie: "Are you talking to me? Well, I'm the only one here." The truest line in Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver! Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) has this terrible habit of wanting to make contact with other people. Everywhere around him the most different people succeed - only he remains excluded. Taxi Driver seems to me like a series of failed attempts to make contact. Every single attempt goes wrong. Once Travis asks a girl out and takes her to a porn movie. Then he tries small talk, but with a Secret Service agent. Finally he tries to make friends with an underage prostitute (but she is afraid of Travis). He is so completely alone that the question - to whom he is talking - is directed at himself: Tavis asks himself in front of the mirror. This loneliness is the heart of Taxi Driver and this makes it one of the most powerful films ever. Perhaps it is also because of his loneliness that we perceive Travis as a film character who seems to come from another star. Hasn't everyone of us ever felt just as lonely? But we were able to deal with it better. Scorse's movie was shown in the cinema in 1976 and yet it never really became familiar to me. Every time I saw it, it tore me away into Travis' world of loneliness and anger. It's an underworld. It's an upside-down world. You can read that the screenwriter Paul Schrader was inspired by John_Ford's The_Searchers. It's true. In both films a man gets lost in his odyssey to help a woman. But in both films the women don't want this help at all! As in the original, Robert De Niro plays a war veteran. Travis was traumatized during the Vietnam War. His attempt to help twelve-year-old hooker Iris (Jodie Foster), who is "held" by her pimp Sport (Harvey Keitel), ends in a bloodbath, which is unique even in Scorsese's work. Iris really wants to be connected to sports! A lonely man, a seeker, sets out to help a woman, although she does not ask him to. This central plot of Taxi Drover is mirrored in all the parallel plots of the film. Travis' feelings towards black people, his strange sexuality (let's just replace the term love with pornography), his hatred of the big city... Scrosese and Schrader form a character full of rage and hate. A fearful person. Through the windshield of his taxi he sees the hookers and pimps on the streets of Manhattan. Like in slow motion. Scorsese manages to portray the inner life of Travis without any dialogue. His purpose is to give us Travis' perspective. We become Travis - and yet we feel quite lost in Taxi Driver. A lot was discussed, according to the final scene. Is it real or imaginary? Does Travis survive the shooting? Or do we perceive the last thoughts of a dying person? It's hard to tell and in the finale Taxi Driver seems more like an opera and less like a drama. Everything is expressed through emotions. Taxi Driver is a film about redemption, not about damnation. Travis no longer exists in reality but in his mind. In the end, this has given him his own peace.

FREE ON CINEGEEK.DE Isabelle adjani - The Tenant


Today I had the feeling that the quarantine will soon be over. There are people everywhere in the streets. Spring feeling. For all those who are still at home, we have our "Corona Cinema", a nice black comedy. In good quality, hand picked for you. By the way, it's on 13th place in our video store hit list, so only twelve films were rented more often!

Isabelle Adjani is one of the great secrets of cinema. She was always able to play women of all ages. She's always the right age. How does she manage this transformation? And always Adjani seems possessed. Her eyes sparkle ghostly. She's one of the most beautiful actresses of our time, but never gave herself up for sedate films. Look at her body language, which suggests such a wild being beneath the surface. She acts because she has to. Otherwise she'd burst. She loves to, and especially in eccentric projects like The Tenant. When The Tenant had its premiere in Cannes in 1976, the audience ran out of the cinema in droves. Contemporaries speak of a veritable flight movement. The reviews were accordingly negative and described Le Locataire not only as a bad film, but as a bottomless pit. The seriously shy Trelkovsky (Roman Polanski), applies for the apartment of a young woman, Simone Choule, who is dying in hospital after a suicide attempt. The young woman dies and he gets the apartment. It is located in a large gloomy building whose inhabitants are hateful people who spy on each other. There is also a cursed bathroom in the building and whenever Trelkovsky looks over, he sees a motionless figure staring at him. After a housewarming party that Trelkovsky gives for his friends, all hell breaks loose: the vicious neighbours complain about the disturbance of the peace and in future they will prosecute Trelkovsky if he even moves a chair. Perhaps it is the building itself that is malicious? All the residents in it are after Trelkovsky. It seems that his death is only a matter of time now, as craftsmen are already exchanging the broken glass front into which the previous tenant threw himself for a new one. Are the neighbors really after Trelkovsky or is he just paranoid? Trelkovsky begins to try on the clothes of his previous tenant Simone Choule and uses her make-up. Since he moved in, the cafe across the street has only offered him cocoa (which his previous tenant used to drink there) and Marlboro (which she smoked). As much as Trelkovsky craves his brand, Gauloises, they offered him Malboro. One of the reasons why Le Locataire was so badly smeared in Cannes may be the fact that Polanski did not direct a horror film, but a black comedy: Trelkovsky visits the hospital with a friend of Simone's, Stella (Isabelle Adjani), to inquire about the condition of his previous tenant. Simone will not recover from her injuries. After the hospital visit Trelkovsky takes Stella to the cinema and grabs her crotch during the performance. During a later rendezvous with Stella, Trelkovsky will step into a piece of dog shit. He is convinced that the roommates in the house are trying to turn him into Simone. Trelkovsky develops a manic passion to become Simone, which is not played out unfunny for us: Like a drag queen, he stands before the mirror in the clothes of the dead. Trelkovsky's attempts to report the incidents to the police end in fiasco. He is asked by name whether he is of Russian origin and is told that not everyone in France can call the police. Finally it breaks out of him when he is again denied the Gauloises in the cafe: "You are a gang of murderers!" Finally, the finale is staged by Polanski as slapstick. Le Locataire is a satire about the generation conflict based on the novel by surrealist Roland Topor: elderly neighbours from Paris in need of rest drive a young foreigner to his death. Le Locataire seems like a cheap trash film, like a British production from the 60s. Obviously Polanski had a hell of a time putting genre set pieces together to create a tastelessness. Le Locataire would certainly not be emptying the cinema today. I just saw it again, felt uncomfortable and sometimes I had to laugh with pity for Trelkovsky.