Unter den Palmen (1999) User Reviews

How long can 70 minutes take?

[just-4 · 4/10 · 26 October 1999]

Though this movie is visually very attractive, opening with night shots of Rotterdam in a Bladerunner, bigcity style, it can not hide that the story is actually very thin. after 20 minutes the effect of uncorrected tube-lights have lost their charm and you start to notice that the dialogue is really slow and not that interesting. If the goal of the movie is to make you really feel the uncomfortable atmosphere it succeeded. The uncomfortable feeling you get with this movie is helped by the bad dialogue and the visual abundance to cover this up. Helping also is the way the soundtrack, though really good, has been put under the worst pieces of dialogue that clearly needed some help. All this makes you hope for a good twist at the end of the movie that will make the time spent listening to semi-filosophicall chitchat worthwhile. Too bad this twist doesn't come and you are left wondering how it is possible that a 70 minutes movie can feel like it took 150 minutes. A waste of money and talent.

The new "Plan 9 from outer space"

[Roemer · 1/10 · 26 March 2000]

This is probably the most empty, pretentious film you'll ever see. The problem is that you know what's going on within 10 minutes but Kruishoop herself doesn't. So she goes on and on and on ... with phoney "intellectual" (hah-hah) dialogues, no plot to speak of, an absolutely hilarious direction (especially the actors direction), a deadly boring atmosphere etc.

Yes, this film can be very enjoyable, in the same way that "Plan 9 of outer space" was. However, plan 9 was less pretentious.

Very long indeed.

[maaike · 2/10 · 30 November 1999]

I've seen three hour films that went by quicker than this one. The plot was thin and extremely slow. The dialogues were oh, so meaningful and boring. But the worst part for me was the ice cold atmosphere of the film. The blue neon light and the minimal music were all pretty enough, but because of the lack of an interesting story it's all that you remember at the end of the film: coldness.

Slow...yes...but there is something to be said for cold

[unstable_aardvaark · 7/10 · 18 November 2006]

The blue wash that prevails in this movie does provide a sense of cold. Cold purpose, cold clarity (at times) and the effect of the characters retreating from each other and themselves. OK so maybe one can read too much into this but nonetheless the "colour" scenes are not always the best ones. So no Psycho comparisons. I truly did find myself watching through the blue haze trying to determine if I appreciated it or not. I guess time is the best measure as I look back, I remember that aspect of the show the best.

Udo Kier also does a fine job.

I enjoyed this movie and have hunted for a copy ever since seeing in on IFC.

A Quietly Disturbing Gem

[sleepsev · 10/10 · 3 October 2000]

I really enjoy this movie. I knew I was gonna like this movie when the music started and the title of this movie appeared on the screen. The coldness of this movie is what I like. Though I don't want to live in a cold world like this, I got much pleasure experiencing it through this movie. I like the music, the atmosphere, the acting and the rhythm of it. This director is great in creating the atmosphere. I felt I was drawn into it. I also like the way characters are created. The movie shows both the strengths and the weaknesses of the leading characters. Sometimes I think they are so cruel and brutal, but then the movie shows that they are very weak inside. Sometimes I think they are aggressive, later I saw that they are also victimized. I like Tanya very much, not because she is very sexy and elegant, but because I felt connected with this character. I admire and have a great respect for this character. Though I don't approve of everything she did, I really sympathize her.Moreover, I felt chilled and thrilled seeing this movie, because I realized that characters in this movie are capable of doing many things beyond my imagination. There are many many scenes that I like in this movie. These scenes impressed me a lot, and I don't know exactly why they can affect me this strongly. These scenes include the scene when Tanya's lover talks to a woman behind a door, the scene when Tanya sits in a car and sees a woman standing on one side of the street, the scene when Tanya runs away from those two guys and descends the staircase, and also the two shocking scenes. This movie is never boring or dull for me. It affected my feelings and my senses in a strange way. I have to give this movie 10 out of 10.

Saw this once and have always wanted to see it again

[chris_w_ross · 7/10 · 17 July 2007]

I caught this film once (about 10 minutes in) while traveling.

I ended up staying in the hotel to finish the movie. I found the camera work stylistic and at time distracting but enjoyed the movie a lot.

The use of blue wash does make the film appear cold but it also enhances some parts of the film.

I will admit it took me a lot of x-referencing to find the full title and I ended up finding it on IMDb by referencing Udo Kier

I have searched periodically since then for it on DVD but have not yet had any success.

Watch it if you can!

cwr

visually stunning, emotionally poor

[carmenbausch · 8/10 · 17 November 2005]

The movie follows David (Helmut Berger) and his girlfriend Tanja. They rob people to make a living. All goes wrong when David finds a photograph of a young guy (Thom Hoffman) and falls in love and decides to find the guy. Torn between his girlfriend, his controlling brother (Udo Kier) and new found love, David is destined to make a fatal choice. Helmut Berger is sometimes uneasy with the part of David which actually seems very close to some of his real life experiences. The acting is deliberately cold and distant as is the music. The cinematography , art direction and styling are very good considering the budget. It shows that the director has a vision and an eye for detail. But as a whole the film fails to impress, especially on an emotional level. It simply remains too cold and too experimental. (A more developed script with less arty dialogue would have helped as well) . Nevertheless this movie is unique and there are not many films that get made in Holland that have this sort of bravoure. Most films are uninteresting stories but without the great visuals and great music. I give it 8 out of 10.

beautiful original styled film

[0000000000 · 9/10 · 18 October 2001]

The visual beauty of this film caught me completely. Nobody who knows Rotterdam has seen this city like this before. The cinematographie and styling are of a very high quality and it's obvious the director chose to use these ways to tell the story. You can tell that this film is made with a lot of thought and a particular sensitive, maybe female approach. I find it unfair to intellectualize this emotional film, but the different layers in which this film is told are very interesting. For Dutch cinema this film is a true gem, maybe too special for most people to understand or appreciate in its own right.

a golden future

[famkeschut · 10/10 · 20 September 2004]

This is a very interesting movie written and directed by a young female director. The visuals and music are beautiful. At times the movie is slow, but in all I found the movie compelling.

There are very few good and interesting films being made in Holland these days therefore it's really admirable to see a project like this being made. I especially like it because the story and the characters are so different from anything else. People that criticise this movie are lazy and don't understand films can entertain on different levels. I recently saw the director on TV and it was amazing to see that she is a vibrant, beautiful young girl with balls and international allure. She will probably blossom more abroad than in Holland where they can't seem to handle a woman being both talented and beautiful.