Krystof

I have loved Russell's films for years, but this one tops it all. It is inventive and stunning beyond belief. Made on a shoestring budget, but with the flair of a Hollywood blockbuster, it has humor, irony, great self-conscious acting and the biggest arsenal of consumerist gadgets since, well, Russell's own masterpiece The Lair of the White Worm. Stunning set-pieces, great visuals and a surprise-a-minute. Russell has turned to underground film-making once again (that's how he got started in the late fifties). The financial restrictions have forced him to be truly creative again. The result is this film, made on digital video. If ever a film was rightfully called mind-blowing, it's this one. There's nothing quite like it, nor is it likely there ever will be. One of the most extraordinary films you are likely to see. Ever. SEE/RENT/BUY IT NOW!

This is a rather splendid film which has been forgotten by film history. Because it is Dutch, it has gone by quite unremarked, although it was a success on release. This is European 'art-film' at its best: high quality, well written and expertly directed. And superbly entertaining at that. But most of all: a stunning performance from lead actress Soutendijk, who could and should have gone on to greater things. For about ten years, she appeared in challenging and often demanding roles in remarkable Dutch and German films (Meisje met het rode haar, Vierde Man, Spetters, Wo immer du bist). Then she went to America and blew it. Nowadays, European art cinema is dead and she's left making TV-fare. A cinema that has no room for the talents of Soutendijk is quite dead and buried. See this magnificent film at all costs.

The young director Ian Kerkhof has made some on-the-edge avant-garde films that are really worth looking for (like De Enge Knijperman en de Onderstebovenvrouw), but this isn't one of them. It was his graduation film for the dutch film academy and as such, it is a deplorable piece of work. Its sole reason for existence is the transgressive opening sequence, which contains the most disturbing non-documentary footage I have ever seen. If you don't want to know what is in it, you shouldn't continue reading this review, because I am about to reveal that the notorious scene shows two gay men involved in a sort of lovemaking which consists of the one actually vomiting in the mouth of the other. It is as disgusting as it sounds and it takes up a considerable part of the running time of the film (several minutes).

In principle, I believe that in art, anything goes, but in this particular case the entire film is so devoid of intent, meaning and technical skill, that one is left to conclude that provocation was its sole intent. The film has no beauty, no charm and no vision: it is nihilistic without reflection, and it is ugly. And maybe that's my main objection to the film: that it doesn't manage (or care to) approach its controversial content with anything but cynicism. Maybe the opening sequence could work in a different film, but here it is left on its own because everything that follows (including more explicit and transgressive sexual imagery) is so bleak and boring in comparison that it seems as if the entire film was simply tagged on at a later stage to get an excuse for showing the vomit-scene. Some intellectual attempts at redeeming the film have been made, but frankly, I'm not impressed: it is simply an act of provocation. The overall graininess and ugliness of the images is actually surprising from a director who has proven himself to be a major stylistic talent.

But still: as a provocation, it works. The vomit-scene is really the only reason why one might want to see the film: it is the only thing that is interesting about it. So maybe it would have been more honest to leave out the overdrawn attempts at intellectualizing and to simply acknowledge the fact that Kerkhof wants to show some really gruesome stuff. There's really nothing wrong with that. And besides: how many people can claim they have seen a man derive sexual gratification from letting another man vomit in his mouth? Right, not many. So if you want to be one of them, this is the film that should fulfill all your wildest dreams. But no, it is not Great Art.

WARNING: when first reading about this film, I supposed that the vomit-scene would be achieved through special effects and that it might be interesting to see how such transgression was incorporated in a film. While reading my review, the same thought might have crossed your mind. But be warned: everything in it is very real. The vomiting is real. So the squeamish should avoid this film at all costs.