FALLING (FALLEN)Director: Barbara Albert, Country: Austria, Release: 2006, Runtime: 88 min.
The Big Chill without the zest, soundtrack, or men
Five high school girlfriends return to their hometown for one of their teachers funerals. One is pregnant, one business-like, one is an actress living in Germany, another looks like a drug addict with her daughter in tow, and the last is the only 'normal' one, acting as the glue holding the group together. They wander from the wake to a country fairgrounds to the nightclub-disco Brooklyn to nature and back to the city. Between scenes, we get foreshadowing still shots and revival gospel songs from America. The story doesn't matter as much as the characters. Albert tries to show the difficulties they all are dealing with, watching one get drunk and act stupid on the dance floor, another neglecting her daughter, the pregnant one making-out with a groom on his wedding day, and the others basically coasting through it all. Some will find this interesting and intriguing, watching the women fall through this day to night to dawn. The strong political ideals of their youth are throw into the mix - activist teacher, anti-war protests. Unfortunately the character's actions seem more self-absorbed than spiritual, with the exception of Brigitte. The songs, visuals, and reflective moments point to a desire to portray these women as struggling heroines but I saw them more as stumbling fools. I doubt they would ever learn from their mistakes. The director's style and pace made the characters seemed forced and two-dimensional, as if they were just case-studies and they would never become real. The photography was beautiful but the showy editing distracted from the simplicity of the story. Overall, this film is only for those who love acting and stylized editing; it mainly serves as another example of how an ensemble piece can be approached. Disappointingly flat.
DISH: OK, I avoided the jokes about FALLING asleep, or FALLING over myself trying to escape theatre, but the best use of the title feeling trapped which falling into the dark hole of the theater. As the director explains, the German title FALLEN has a double meaning - it can mean both 'falling' and 'trapped'. Albert and two of the actors were there to answer questions. One of the actors talked about not seeing this as a women's film but a human film about human characters. That is all nice in theory but both the actor and director tapped into a more debatable and relevant point-of-view. They commented that growing up, girls could relate to both female and male characters but men tend to limit their role models to male characters. This is most likely true in the U.S. but if the French can make Three Men and a Cradle, perhaps that assumption is wrong, for at least some sensitive European guys.
1 comment:
How is the following statement NOT ridiculous?
"They commented that growing up, girls could relate to both female and male characters but men tend to limit their roll models to male characters."
Comedy.
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