In the Basement

You don't need to go into someones basement to find nazis or people who are into SM. The movie presents itself like it would be a trip into the dark parts of human mind, but the material isn't that special. Furthermore I think that the people here should serve no other purpose than an attraction, we can laugh at and I didn't like it. But still, the camera work is amazing.

Another one of Seidl's deadpan pseudo-documentaries. Not his worst or his best, but it sort of feels like he's been making variations on the same basic set-up for over twenty years now. That said, the subject of this one is a bit broader than some of his others, allowing it to work almost more as an overview of his general sensibility. Often as provocative as ever, but less complex or probing than some of his more recent narrative films.

Seidls central perspective always walks a thin line between being a neutral, even tender observer and a sensation mongering voyeur. The more I watch Seidl I tend to think of him - and therefor of course of myself! - as a humanist, that takes people as they are: Nazis, slaveholders, slaves, alcoholics, murderers, musicians and mothers. Seidl thinks of himself as a cinematic caretaker, who rejects really nobody. And I tend to agree. Only the pessimist can love anything as it really is.

The bottom line is that this exactly what I would expect from an Austrian arthouse documentary, incredibly slow and brutally simple. That said, I was surprised at how compelled I was from start to finish. There was something interesting about every single person featured, and the camera didn't cut away until you found it.

This is brutal. I have no other words. If you wonder how the Fritzl case could have happened, here is your answer.