Decadentism and modernity find an excellent combination in Corsage. The costumes and elegant interiors of Schönbrunn provide a counterpoint to the pop music. At the same time, Marie Kreutzer opted for a classical mise-en-scène, so that the viewer can focus exclusively on her magnetic protagonist, masterfully played by Vicky Krieps. At the Cannes Film Festival 2022.
The working-class struggle, the need to ‘grow up’, but also – and above all – love torments are the absolute protagonists in Taking it Back. Andreas Schmied, who has always had a great aptitude for entertaining comedies, has attempted a mix of social discourse and sentimental aspects, paying more attention to the latter.
We do not see in Louis van Beethoven a composer at work. We do not witness the creative process that led to the birth of some of his most famous compositions. Not the end result, but what, fundamentally, led to it. An undoubtedly winning idea, which, however, made Niki Stein’s feature film an excessively dispersive work, in which the director himself seems too cold towards his protagonist and his works.
Although Aufschneider stands out immediately for its television-like writing and directorial approach, everything flows in an overall linear way. Every single event, every single story of the characters are somehow connected. Often, however, also in an excessively predictable manner.
Once were Rebels immediately presents itself as an ambivalent feature film. If, on the one hand, comedy and paradox reign for almost the entire running time of the film, on the other hand, it soon becomes an analysis of love and family relationships, as well as of the living conditions of some refugees from Russia, who are wanted solely for having tried to defend their freedom.