Curiosity & the Cat

don`t get mislead by hiphop-star thomas d.s first performance in the beginning, it`s amusing, charming but he would definitely fit better in a screwball comedy. though the story could have been better, the looks and the whole atmosphere is definitely worth watching. fascinating production design. the score is intense, sometimes it`s hard to recognoize what`s original aphex twin and what's original score. you couldn`t find anything like this in germany... look out for the dvd-specials. strange but you learn a lot about chaostheory and independent filmmaking. what a shame that eva renzi didn't want her excellent performance to remain in that movie!

This doesn't quite get the score I'd like to give it because there are just a couple of slightly irritating loose ends. That aside this is a most audacious debut and promises great things. It always looks fine and moves well always retaining a nice mix of menace and innocence. A body is found, police investigate and a man is interviewed briefly in his flat and asked to get in touch if he hears or sees anything suspicious. Whether all of what follows is real or in the guy's mind we are never quite sure but he is seen boring drill holes into the next apartment, even climbing above into the roof space and cutting a trap door into the next room. He hears and sees scraps of violence and sexuality and continually puts two and two together making possibly five and subsequently alienating his girlfriend and almost us. The use of language is interesting with most in German but much with his girlfriend in English and possibly she is supposed to be English. The 'baddies' dialogue is an unsettled and possibly undefined mix of East European sounds, suggesting a fair amount of paranoia for the 'New Europe' by the Germans, which probably is the case. Despite the odd fault this is always very well shot, arresting and interesting. We shall hear more from Mr Alvart.

I just bought this film on DVD yesterday and watched it today. It is is certainly not your regular who-dun-it plus chasing-the-bad-guy-scene thriller. The hero is very unheroic, afraid and curious beyond belief. Still I found myself enjoying this, maybe not despite the before mentioned, but because of that. It all had a sense of realness to it, and that makes you care more for the protagonist (Henri). It all starts very slow-paced (showing the emptiness of Henris life as an would-like-to-be artist) but adds up to it, when he gets more and more absorbed by the secretive life of his neighbour. All of this is very stylish, despite the non-existent budget. (45.000 Dollar for a 35mm-feature!!!). You have to listen to the director's commentary, which is very interesting and tells us how crazy the circumstances during the creation of this "underground"movie have been. I just loved the gangster-mob from Finnland. This movie looks like nothing from Germany. It is a small film, so you shouldn't expect a big Hollywood production. The FSK-18 rating in Germany is beyond me. FSK-16 would habe been enough. And yeah: We have a chasing-scene. But the bad guys chase the hero! I love the little kittie in the final credits. 8 out of 10 for creativity versus big budget.

An auteur is born! Created by the former editor of the legendary German movie fanzine X-TRO, this debut movie comes as a big surprise. Stimulating lightsetting, engaged actors, smooth cuts, perfect angles and shots, a genuine and original 'handwriting' - this will be the business card for the director to join the world of professional movie makers. Almost unsupported by big money and made through much individual will, the film was originally planned as a shorter one, stretched to 82 minutes (thus qualified to join a Korean festival) and therefore suffers from some script weakness and a lack of suspense in between. Still, we find ourselves in the protagonist, a man disturbed by the strange things happening in his neighbour's appartment which make him so curious that he drills holes in his walls to watch sadistic and mafiotic events that will influence his own relationship with his foreign girlfriend. The hard music of the movie goes well with its developing violence. I can't wait to see Mr. Christian's next film.

Don't be mislead by the short description on the back of the DVD.

The movie is dark and unconventional but too long and sometimes boring. The few scenes containing sex a lifeless (OK, the first is intentional) and there aren't any BDSM scenes (a few seconds of a hand-cuffed girl do not count). The German FSK 18 rating relates certainly to the few scenes of violence.

The technical aspects (camera, choreography, etc.) are well done but they don't compensate for the boring moments.

At least they included "Stapelfahrer Klaus" which is really worth watching.