Paradise: Hope

Seidl is a master with his brutal austrian christal clear bauhaus mirror.His movies are as comfortable as beeing homeless on the north pole in winter.The paradies trilogy is perfect so it deserves 100 but it's emotionally so much detached, like an alien film professor coming from another galaxy making a movie about the unbearable human condition for his mates. If David Attenborough was an austrian sociology researcher he would make movies like this.

Just as one expects Seidl to conduct a trope of the grotesque, he pulls you back in with a magnificent swoop of tenderness. This is his most expertly restrained film to date.

I felt this to be the least dynamic and most obviously manipulative of the trilogy. The central taboo here gets repetitive despite another phenomenal cast. Still, Seidl's slight shift away from clinical detachment to some real sentiment is a sweet conclusion.

Aside from further investigating his paradise-theme (the complex nature of longing for love and sexuality), Seidl is hinting at child neglect/abuse and asks your opinion due to an unbiased, factual eye. Here's mine: Kids need parental attention and affection, if you deny them that, they'll compensate in unhealthy ways. And even then, it's still the grown-ups who are really messed up.

It's evident that all three traits cannot co-exist forever. Thankfully not as agonizing of a conclusion, and hey, can't blame a neglected-child while mum in Kenya.

Felt a lot more contrived than the other two, with really less to say than the over-the-top storyline might make you think. Still, there's a bunch of very Seidl observations.

Seidl's directorial style is based in cinema verité, and this is the strong point of an uneven movie. As a fly-on-the-wall to the activities of these fat camp teenagers, we see quite several very natural scenes and pleasingly gain a gradual understanding and compassion for the main character. Beyond that, the movie doesn't offer so much in the way of story. It doesn't go as far as it could with the provocative "romance" element. Instead, it fizzles out. A reasonable watch but seems incomplete.

perspective on the minutiae of interactions between chubby teens is admirably naturalistic and warm, but struggles when striving for greater significance. the will he/won't he arc never transcends a creepy predator/victim dichotomy here. seidl's disdain for a society that peddles absurdly idealised benchmarks for self-image is fine, but the oppressively orderly routines of the microcosmic fat camp or throwaway lines about divorced/absent parents don't satisfyingly offer a cause nor a solution.

Star Rating: ★★★1/2

The weakest installment of the trilogy still damn good

چنتا دختر و پسر چاق به یه کمپ میرن واسه لاغری، ساخت المان

Berlinale 2013 & http://biletsiz.com/63berlinale

Batı medeniyetinin altını oymayı çok iyi beceren Ulrich Seidl, yine küçük bir ayrıntıya odaklanıp çok büyük bir resim çiziyor. "If you are happy and you know it, clap your fat!!"

This doesn't judge or offer any resolution and overall it felt bit empty although it gives a lot to think about. There were some very believable performances.

It is certainly Seidl's most restrained film to date, while also being in some ways at least one of the most uncomfortable. It's only real downside is that it feels a bit thematically over-familiar, although not necessarily in terms of other Seidl films (it doesn't help that i also just watched Uncertain Terms, although this is easily the better of the two films). I think it's overall the slightest of the trilogy, but still well done for what it is at the very least.

What a tender, funny, warm film! If only the storyline between Melanie and her friend would've been a bit longer... It left me unsatisfied. But apart from that, it's really amazing how Seidl looks at those kinds. So easy and kind. They all stay teenagers, in the party-scenes espacially.Those feel so real and naturall it's just perfect. The kinds never talk about their weight. They just live. It's doesn't take more to fall in love with them!

It's very well made and the performance by the cast is excellent. It's just not my cup of tea. The teacher-child relationship is just straight up creepy. Very uncomfortable to watch.