A brief film review: "Dora oder Die sexuellen Neurosen unserer Eltern" [Switzerland 2015]

Stina Werenfels's film "Dora oder Die sexuellen Neurosen unserer Eltern" [Eng. Title: Dora or The Sexual Neuroses of Our Parents] is an unusual drama concerning a young woman growing up with a developmental disorder.










After Dora (Victoria Shulz) turns eighteen, mother Kristin (Jenny Schily) decides to discontinue her daughter's medication after finding her in better spirits without them. The opening scenes are of Dora enjoying her birthday party among friends and relatives.

Stopping her medication also paves the way for Dora's sexual awakening. Naturally inquisitive, she becomes increasingly interested in sex and apart from exploring her body, is also keen to experience sex, sometimes leading to awkward situations within the household.

She sets her eyes on a dashing and sporty car driving Peter (Lars Eidinger), and one day follows him into a public toilet to befriend and offer him a fruit as gift. Before she could realise what was happening, Peter takes advantage of Dora and abuses her sexually in the toilet.

But Dora enjoyed that experience and keenly pursues Peter for more such encounters, who willingly obliges despite Kristin objecting to his exploitation of a vulnerable Dora. Kirsten also pleads unsuccessfully with mental health authorities to stop Peter from approaching her daughter. Before long, things become more complicated when Dora becomes pregnant and a question arises over her ability to raise children normally. For Kristin, it couldn't have come at a worse time when she was hoping to conceive another child of her own..!

It's not very often that we get to see sexuality among people with disabilities depicted in film, even more so when it comes to those with mental disorder. It could also become a vexing topic when normal actors end up performing characters with disabilities, but to their credit, the director and Ms. Shulz have brought to life a convincing and sympathetic character in Dora. However, I felt the film was overreaching itself when it tried to add additional plot points that perhaps were not really necessary. But Dora does redeem the film, and at least for her soaring spirit, this film is Recommended Viewing..!

Amazon DVD Link [PAL]

 

The Nudity: Victoria Schulz, Jenny Schily, and others
It is not often than we get to see mentally disabled characters depicted as sexual beings; something of an unspoken taboo in films, and that's why I think the film's nude scenes cover new ground. There are at least four scenes in which Victoria Shulz appears nude. Jenny Schily appears nude in one scene shot from a distance. Assorted characters also appear nude during a swingers' sex session.



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A film review: "Le milieu du monde" [Switzerland, France 1974]

With his romantic drama "Le milieu du monde" [Eng. Title: The Middle of the World], Alain Tanner signals a marked shift in the style and content of his film-making, one that'll also usher-in the most productive and creative phase of his career, featuring cinematic gems such as Jonah Who Will Be 25 in the Year 2000, Light Years Away, In the White City, and A Flame in My Heart, among many others.









Set in an idyllic but simple Swiss village, Tanner's film examines the intense but short-lived life of a romantic love affair - between married businessman Paul (Philippe Léotard) and Adriana (Olimpia Carlisi) - a recently arrived Venetian widow who works as a waitress at the local railway café. The film is presented like a video diary with a straightforward narrative, and uses the Swiss landscape as its backdrop.

Paul has everything going for him - he's successful, charming, and has just been chosen as an electoral candidate to represent a conservative party. He falls for Adriana from the moment he sets eyes on her, and wastes little time in asking her out on a date that she too will accept. After a few dates, he will profess his love for her, and claim that he is now at the centre of the world.

Adriana appreciates his affections, but is nevertheless also happy on her own - about herself, her job, and also the modest room that she lives in, while Paul tries to persuade her into quitting her 'crummy' job, and move in with him into a more luxurious apartment. Paul brazenly embarks upon the affair despite remaining in public gaze during his electioneering - it's as if he wants his affair to be known to everyone.

The party bosses aren't too happy when they find out about his affair, and even his close childhood friends take a wager on him loosing in elections. Paul indeed looses - perhaps he wanted it this way all along, so that he could regain his privacy and divorce his wife without the press kicking too much of fuss. He asks Adriana to accompany him in his globe-trotting plans, assuming that it is something she too would enjoy - but she turns down his offer.

There in lies Paul's problem - the business-like manner in which he approaches relationships, renders him incapable of truly getting to know the woman that he thinks he's in love with. He readily admits seeing himself at the centre of the world (hence the film's title) around whom others interact, and is consequently at odds with Adriana in one crucial respect - while Paul talks a lot and says very little, Adriana is verbal economy personified, but what little she does say is as insightful as it is telling. Paul might have nonchalantly dismissed and changed the topic after hearing Adriana say, "If a man sees a woman naked, he thinks he knows her already - and starts defining her so and so. That's why I want this room to be dark", but her words succinctly points out why their relationship will also fail. Adriana may seem just as unfathomable to the viewer as the director, but that doesn't stop us from being drawn to her enigmatic character.

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The fascinating character study is set against the desolate beauty and magnificence of the Swiss landscape, frequently juxtaposed with the mood and state of the couple's relationship. Some of cinematographer and Tanner-regular Renato Berta's stunning compositions - shot in aesthetically pleasing full-frame, impart an abstract, 'architectural' quality to scenes that would've easily won the approval of an Antonioni or Angelopoulos. Ms. Carlisi was nominated for BAFTA for her magnetic performance in the film, but Berta too ought to have been in the list for his evocative cinematography. Alain Tanner, of course, is in fine form in this masterfully put-together drama. I, for one, could sit and watch gems like these all day long - Highly Recommended Viewing..!

 

Amazon 2-Disc DVD Link [PAL]
As with most Tanner films, this DVD too is difficult to get hold of, and it is about time that this changes. For the moment, I add a title to my wishlist and wait for an alert mail when they become available. The DVD is otherwise immaculately restored with rich colours, whilst retaining their grain texture. The other disc contains another of Tanner's classics - Jonas qui aura 25 ans en l'an 2000.

 

The Nudity: Olimpia Carlisi
The classy Italian actress appears nude or partially nude in a handful of scenes that are just as beautiful as they're tasteful, and as a bonus, her Italian-accented French is charming even for a foreigner like me. Most of the nude scenes happen when her character is shown in the comfort of her own room, whether alone or with her lover. There's just one scene when she's nude while not in her preferred surroundings - in a room at a tourists' hotel - and she refuses to sleep in the bed or have sex with Paul there.



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A review: "Une flamme dans mon coeur" [1987 Switzerland, France]

Alain Tanner makes a concerted attempt at re-interpreting feminist ideals with his intense and controversial drama "Une flamme dans mon coeur" [Eng. Title: A Flame in My Heart]. However, over the film's course, he drops the topic and reverts to what he does best - coaxing his protagonist on a philosophical walkabout.

 


Mercedes (Myriam Mézières) is a gifted theatre actress who can embody the character she's playing on stage, intensely and unselfconsciously - characteristics that have also permeated into her personal life and relationships, some of which are destructive even. Like her obsessive and domineering boyfriend Johnny (Azize Kabouche) - his all-or-nothing approach is the kind of stress that women would rather do without, but invariably end up courting. Mercedes had tried to end their relationship several times but he still manages to get into her bed every night, thanks to his overbearing ways that she also finds irresistible.

 


After finally shaking him off by taking refuge in a hotel room, Mercedes goes into town intent on finding herself a new boyfriend, and fancying a guy travelling in a train, she follows him. Pierre (Benoît Régent), a journalist, who is too shy to take the initiative even after receiving the right signals, will become Mercedes' chosen prey. He is the opposite of Johnny in many respects - educated, employed, courteous, logical, and who like in his chosen profession, prefers to look at things from the outside - without getting involved in proceedings. Unlike Mercedes though, who likes to immerse herself in everything that she does - as she puts it, "be in the centre where it burns".

 


After a brief romance, Mercedes moves into Pierre's apartment. But she will soon be laid out bare for all to see - figuratively as well as literally, when Pierre had to go away on a foreign assignment for two weeks. Her sense of loneliness will reveal an inability to function normally without someone wanting her. Reluctantly turning up for work, she'll be fired for inexplicably forgetting her lines during rehearsal. Slumped to a couch, she will lie there for several days, naked and unkempt, subsisting on cornflakes and watching TV even after broadcast had ended. Mercedes had always enjoyed having orgasms during sex - and Pierre, the subservient partner in their relationship, had once remarked that he'd never come across a woman who pursued pleasure with as much passion as she did. But in truth, Mercedes misses being owned, used, and abused, and her orgasm through masturbation will only reveal her shame, and hidden masochism.

 


Upon his return, Pierre is dismayed to find a naked and untidy Mercedes in a flat littered with empty cereal boxes. He'd been trying to call her all these days, and notices that the telephone wire had been snipped as well. Without a job to go to, he wonders what she's going to do. But Mercedes had already found a new job that Pierre will only be appalled to discover later, when he spots her performing suggestively with her big stuffed chimpanzee toy at a fairground booth, totally naked. When he confronts her afterwards, her repost will reveal a woman with political acumen despite her apparent lack of interest in political articles that Pierre writes for newspapers. She tells him that what she's doing now is the same as what she was doing while performing Racine's 'Berenice' on stage - essentially selling dreams, and she feels that the lower classes are entitled to their dreams too.

 


The film's focus shifts when Mercedes joins Pierre on his next assignment - Tanner is no longer interested in the couple's politics, and the audience themselves had noticed the pair's mismatch. By taking her out of her natural surroundings and turning her into a foreigner, Mercedes is allowed to completely disengage from herself and feel the alienation both from within and outside - a territory that Tanner is only too familiar exploring. He might not have given himself enough screen time on this occasion for allegory and philosophical musing - the script was after all co-written by Myriam Mézières herself, but he revels in his protagonist's total isolation all the same.

 


This might not be Tanner's finest work, but it has its virtues. Not least is Ms. Mézières' intense and lay-it-all-bare performance - she disintegrates right in front of the camera as we watch her character loose inhibition and identity. She is frequently naked and in at least one scene, the sex is real, even if not pornographic - when she masturbates in front of television. Shot in 16 mm, and captured in grainy black and white by Acácio de Almeida who also worked with Tanner on 'In the White City', the cinematography imbues the film with an abstract dream-like quality by utilising strong contrast - some frames are so exquisite that prints from them could easily find a place in a gallery.

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The Striptease: This is the famous (or infamous) striptease scene where Ms. Mézières dances with a stuffed chimpanzee. Apart from showcasing her talents in burlesque, the scene is used to make a political statement, unlike imitations of this scene in films that came after. A typical example is the opening scene in Aurelio Grimaldi's "La donna lupo", which not only copied the music, but mimics the black and white style too, with the main difference being the prop that the dancer plays with - a stuffed panda in place of the stuffed chimp. The scene is recreated to portray a teenager's wet dream. Loredana Cannata certainly is a beautiful and talented actress, but she certainly hasn't the attitude of a Myriam Mézières, and nor is the film anywhere as accomplished as Tanner's, and as for the cinematography, let's not even go there!

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Compare the two:
'Une flamme dans mon coeur' and 'La donna lupo'





 

The DVD:
My DVD is not digitally remastered, but still looks great, even if it only comes with German subtitles. The unusual and rare film is certainly Recommended Viewing..!

Amazon.fr DVD Link [PAL]

 

The Nudity: Myriam Mézières, Azize Kabouche, and Benoît Régent
The film has adult themes and features frequent scenes with nudity, mostly of Myriam Mézières, including one that is also fairly explicit.



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Isabelle Huppert in "La dentellière" [1977 France, Switzerland]

Sometimes, it requires a painter to appreciate beauty, says Swiss director Claude Goretta, and writer Pascal Lainé, upon whose novel the film, "La dentellière" [Eng. Title: The Lacemaker] is based. Even the title alludes to Johannes Vermeer's famous painting.

Beatrice aka Pomme (Isabelle Huppert) is eighteen, lives with her mum, and works as an apprentice at a Parisian hair salon. She is pretty, but also too modest to flaunt her good looks. She's kind, and keen to help others, unlike her older colleague at work, the attention-seeking Marylène (Florence Giorgetti). Pomme and Marylène go on a vacation to a seaside town in Normandy, and that's when Pomme, having been momentarily abandoned by Marylène, meets François (Yves Beneyton), a philosophy student from a rich family, also on vacation.

François is fascinated by Pomme's simplicity, her looks, but particularly her virtue (he even asks her on one occasion if she was a virgin, a fact she acknowledges), and after initiating her to sex, believes he loves her, and invites her to live with him in his Paris. Pretty soon however, he notices that there's very little in common between them - intellect or interests, and begins to resent her sweet (compliant, and devoid of opinion) nature, and becomes increasingly embarrassed about having her as his girlfriend. He suggests they go their separate ways, and a heartbroken Pomme neither resists nor tries to reason with him - she meekly accepts his decision and moves out.

But depression will take its toll on Pomme's health, which will see her end up in a sanatorium. When he hears about her mental illness, François visits her with trepidation and also a sense of guilt, but during their conversation, Pomme startles him by claiming that she's actually quite happy these days, and that she also travels on holiday to Greek islands, often having flings with various men. The closing shot is of Pomme casting an enigmatic gaze towards the camera, like one of Vermeer's famous paintings.

The events described above are mostly from François' perspective. Pomme's view, on the other hand, could indeed be different - Pomme may not be as dull as François thinks she is - in fact she comes across as far more observant, having 'lived' life, unlike François, merely reading about it from a sheltered environment. She doesn't argue or raise an opinion, not to withdraw herself from engaging with François and his friends, but perhaps because her accumulated wisdom had taught her that there might after all never be a single truth to pursue with conviction. Who then, is the more enlightened of the two.

The film is not just a melodrama resting on the incompatibility of different social classes, but also about people's preconceptions, and limited tolerance, or willingness to look beyond the surface. Pomme's viewpoint as opined above, isn't something that I conjured up - it is Ms. Huppert's own interpretation of her character, explained in an interview to a magazine after the film's initial release. Small wonder that her performance was so widely hailed that it also earned her a BAFTA award. I'm convinced that it is Isabelle Huppert's individual performance that makes this film as good as it is. Needless to say, it is Highly Recommended Viewing..!

Amazon.de DVD Link [PAL]
English Subtitles

 

The Nudity: Florence Giorgetti and Isabelle Huppert
Claude Goretta isn't particularly known for using nudity in his films, but this one is a pleasant exception, and Ms. Huppert in particular, is at her youthful best.



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Odile Schmitt in "Les Années Lumière" [1981 Switzerland, France]

It can be difficult to pigeon-hole Alain Tanner - he is one of the few pan-European directors who likes to defy cultural, linguistic, and geographical boundaries when it comes to cinema, and here's another example - his contemplative drama "Les Années Lumière" [Eng. Title: Light Years Away] may have been a Swiss-French production, but the English language film was shot entirely in Ireland, with a predominantly British cast, by adapting aspects from a well-known Greek myth (Daedalus and Icarus).

Storyline:
Young Jonas (Mick Ford), a drifter at heart who likes to be free 'like a bird', first meets Yoshka Poliakeff (Trevor Howard) while working in a pub. But when he's fired for not turning up for work on time, Jonas goes in search of Yoshka's garage up in the country. But Yoshka wouldn't take him under his wings that easily. Forced to sleep outside and toil to earn his meals, Jonas will find the going tough, and is forced to battle with his own self to understand a purpose in life. The eccentric Yoshka will eventually become his perfect tutor and master, to help him see beyond the obvious - Yoshka after all had been preparing all these years to fly away "beyond galaxies, light years away", by meticulously observing and bonding with birds of prey. He had constructed the perfect wings for his task, and this Daedalus is going to do it all alone, for himself - it is his own personal journey. And Jonas too will learn a thing or two about life from the guru before his departure...

Set in a desolate landscape, the austere and allegorical film bears witness to the coming-of-age of a clueless young drifter. It is simple in its structure and doesn't try to say anything more than it needs to. Alain Tanner followed this up with an equally contemplative but more accomplished Dans la Ville Blanche, but despite its rough edges and at times incoherent edits, "Light Years Away" stands out on its own as an imaginative interpretation of an interesting tale. The haunting dogma-style cinematography would have pleased Lars von Trier, and far from being dreary, the film is brought alive by the humour and warmth of the characters. Oscar-nominated Trevor Howard is in his element as the enigmatic Yoshka - witty and engaging - it is through him that we develop an interest in Jonas' personal journey. This may be an obscure little gem, but precious nevertheless, and Highly Recommended Viewing..!

Amazon DVD Link [PAL]

 

The Nudity: Mick Ford and Odile Schmitt
The nude scenes happen much later in the film, when Jonas (Mick Ford) visits the city to complete some necessary paperwork for his will. He meets an exotic dancer at a club (Odile Schmitt) where they strike up a relationship. Well - of sorts...



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Mónica del Carmen in "Año Bisiesto" [2010 Mexico]

Australian-born Michael Rowe made his directorial debut in this 2010 Mexican drama "Año Bisiesto" [Eng. Title: Leap Year]. I so wanted to see this during one of its screenings in the UK, but work kept me away, so had to wait for the DVD to be released to watch it.

It's a sad but beautiful film dealing with several complex issues such as loneliness, particularly urban solitude, marginalisation within 'mainstream society' due to gender or ethnicity, and also a plea for love. And what better setting than the biggest urban zone of all, with its deep set divisions within - Mexico city. The director had lived in Mexico for several years and has used his intimate knowledge of the city and its culture to tell us the story of Laura, a Mexican native American.

A migrant from the provinces, Laura makes a living as a freelance journalist in Mexico city. She lives alone, on the verge of depression, and in her desperate search for intimacy and companionship, has meaningless sexual encounters with various men. Her loneliness is exemplified through the vicarious pleasure she takes in watching a young couple living opposite displaying affection for one another. She craves for a similar affection, never having experienced it before. Every time her mum or friends call, she lies to them about herself, trying to portray herself as living a far more interesting life than she thinks she is.

Laura had now reached the point where she wants to end it all, and set herself the end of the month to accomplish her task, February the 29th - the same day her father died four years earlier. It's not coincidental that the date of this post would have been February the 29th too, had this been a leap year.

We get to the next phase of the film, when Laura meets Arturo. During their first night, they somehow 'connect', and they meet again. While Arturo thinks he'd found someone on whom he can act out his sexual fetishes, Laura endures them willingly due the deep state of intimacy these intense sex sessions bring. The long post-coital scenes on the couch are just as important as the sex, as this is when they get to know each other intimately. The sex sessions however intensify by the day, until the 29th of February arrives, the day she had set for her death, and Arturo is to help her end her existence...

Apart from two scenes in a supermarket, the entire film is shot from inside a small flat. Laura's. The air of claustrophobia is adequately illustrated using simple but effective directorial and cinematographic techniques. The acting from both the lead characters is excellent, especially Laura, played by Mónica del Carmen, and the storytelling is simply captivating. This film was made on a shoestring budget, but put together beautifully with care and devotion, a feat greatly appreciated at Cannes last year when it deservedly won the Camera d'Or.

Now that the DVD is out - there's no reason not to buy it, not only for the fine film but also the interesting points Director Rowe raises in his interview. Please treat these scenes below as a sampler - if you like them, buy the film. Highly Recommend Viewing..!




Scene 1:
Laura brings along a guy after an evening out. No sooner does he catch his breath after sex, the guy's asking for his pants...








Scene 2:
When Laura brings home Arturo for the first time, a bond develops without them realising - it's as if he knew what she wanted, which he was only too happy to give. The sex scenes here however are not erotic - there is palpable sadness displayed in laura's emotions. But Arturo cares about Laura, and she knows that too.








Scene 3:
The infliction of pain during sex appears to have a cathartic effect on Laura, and the sado-masochistic element of their sex sessions intensify. The post-coital scene is however moving, when Arturo asks Laura to tell something she had never told anyone before.








Scene 4:
Laura welcomes him in the nude as usual, but Arturo asks her to clear the room, slaps and 'forces' her to masturbate as he urinated all over her. When he asks her later how it felt to be pissed on, she smiles and says, "it felt warm" - the warm feeling in sharing an unmentionable secret with Arturo, something very personal that they could tell no one, that intimacy is what she had craved all along. She also discloses in their sofa-chat that she lost her virginity when she was twelve. In their next session, Arturo burns her with a cigarette, and she puts up with the pain - she is ready to accept whatever is coming to her whenever the doorbell rings. In the last part of this compilation, she turns down work opportunity from a publisher, lying to him that she's emigrating to Switzerland to work at the embassy there.








Scene 5:
This is a disturbing scene. Laura welcomes Arturo this time holding a kitchen knife - she wants him to cut her. He hesitates. During their customary chat, she masturbates him while describing how it would feel to actually mutilate her while making love. She suggests he could if he wants even cut her throat, and come inside her dead body. The scene is explicit, but it is not the least designed to titillate, unless you are one of those who need help. I have also appended an unrelated shower scene towards the end.








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