Manafonistas

No doubt, a lot of films move to the losing end after catching you at first with some clever trickery. Even so called „art films“ often give away their secrets all too quickly. I’ve not seen a lot of movies this year. But there are four that will stay with me for a very long time. THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY is one of them. Erotic Cinema still has something to offer, and here we are, in the territory of seduction, devotion and surrender. There is a lot of darkness to dwell in, literally, dimly lit spaces that add to the spell of desire. Immersive. A MOST VIOLENT YEAR is another example for a „genre movie“ that transcends its rules and history. Far away from being a rip-off (Abklatsch) of old film noir classics from the 70’s, it’s a masterpiece in reduction. You have to think a lot to nail down a „gangster drama“ with a similar amount of non-action. But it never leaves me off the hook, and, en passant, contains – surprise! – one of the most captivating „hunting scenes“ in modern film stories. EX MACHINA is Science Fiction of highest order, a chamber piece placed in a high-tech laboratory surrounded by wild nature. Here, too, „action“ is a foreign word; everything relies on camera, dialogue, soundtrack and sudden twists of perception. In one of its (instant) classic moments, you get a perfect example of how to transport a 70’s disco song into a scenario of controlled madness. Apart from that, Geoff Barrow and Ben Salisbury composed a soundtrack with sending-shivers-down-the-spine qualities. Another kind of creepiness: IT FOLLOWS can be labelled „horror movie“, but that is misleading, too. Situated in the decaying outskirts of Detroit, this film only uses some of the genre’s old motives to explore teenage angst, friendship and love in a world that mixes time zones in the most peculiar ways: look at the interiors, and you might think you’re back in old Junior High days, look at the black and white movies the teenagers feel attracted, too. A richly textured „When-am-I-edge-of-the-seat-Experience“ with Dostojevski’s The Idiot revealing a striking sub-text at the end … (All films out now on BLU RAY and DVD).