Eva Braun (2015)

Not the biopic of Hitler's mistress that one might suspect from the title, this unusual film is rather set in contemporary Italy with the focus being an Italian millionaire who hires five youths to act out his sexual fantasies. While they are all paid, it is gradually revealed that each person has other reasons for agreeing to essentially be a sex slave; one is an aspiring filmmaker looking for funding, another hopes to be introduced to his contacts, and the list goes on. In this regard, the film seeks to be a study of how much people can be persuaded to degrade themselves with the promise of something worthwhile, and while the film has garnered comparisons to Pier Paolo Pasolini's 'Saló', the subjects of 'Eva Braun' are willing participants, even if they are physically repulsed by it all. It is clearly the filmmakers' intention to draw parallels to Pasolini though; the millionaire is called Pier after all, and -- like a movie director -- he often sits back in a chair, shouting instructions at those he hired - occasionally even demonstrating how to act. Curious as all this may sound, the film is let down by a nasty sense of humour that tends to trivialise the degradation; a virgin is deflowered through misuse of modern technology, the reason for the title turns out to be an unfunny joke before the end credits roll, and so on. The film also has a - perhaps unavoidable - sense of repetitiveness as everything gradually devolves into one act of depravity after another. It is a daringly different movie to say the least though, and Andrea Riva's take on a man with the spirit of Pasolini is arguably worth watching for alone.