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Des Teufels Bad (2024)
Surprising in its historical relevance
I have seen films by Fiala & Franz and thus expected a well-crafted horror/thriller, which, judging by the trailer, could dive into the supernatural aspects of heaven and hell. I was quite surprised that the film is not only historically inspired but in itself focuses on a part of history not commonly referred to in public discourse. It is a grand elaboration on depression and mental illness in a time where such concepts were unknown and barely treated; in combination with the fierce believe of damnation after suicide, this led to horrific solutions.
Admittedly, the film starts of a bit reluctantly and slow, but staying is even more so worth it as the film continuously builds up, especially in second half. A small critique from my personal Upper Austrian POV: While Plaschg does a wonderful acting job, her dialect falls out of place in the otherwise relatively accurately coined Upper Austrian way of speech.
The Holdovers (2023)
So familiar, so simple, heart-warming, a potential Classic.
I do admit, the film starts a bit slow, I was unsure at first; as the film kept dragging on, I was more and more delighted, feeling my heart warmed to a certain extent. And to my delight, I do not really know why. The film's story is simple, nothing extraordinary or out of the blue, but in a way it touched me deeply. It is this feast the film accomplished, being simple, christmasy, but yet no kitsch, no "ah this again". A tender story, soothing, relaxing, with some light comedy in between; all in all, not entirely perfect, as already said, the start's a bit slow, maybe not necessary, but the final product left me rather content.
Napoleon (2023)
Partly hysterical, but should it be?
What this film does great are battles and their visuals, music's also fine. The rest - ouch. The story is completely disjointed and sticks together like a child's ugly self-built figurine - it does stick but does not fit. The jumps between scenes must utterly confuse those who have no to only lay knowledge of Napoleon - even I, someone who at least knows a bit, was wondering why the hell we are suddenly in Egypt and why is Napoleon suddenly Emperor - it simply is rather non-sensical and, thus, sometimes rather hilarious - but more so in a trash movie kind of sense. Talking of trash films, Phoenix' performance in this one left me baffled and reminded me in its rigidness of Tommy Wiseau's The Room - take as an insult to Phoenix or as an compliment to Wiseau.
How a film such a potential, take budget, director and cast can turn into such a mess is beyond me.
Killviertel (2023)
As quirky and "trash" as expected but too long ...
The film is obviously a not too serious horror film with a lot of comedy stemming from the rather poor acting and production. This was expected though. What really caught me off guard was the sheer length; the movie just did not end and continued and conitnued, especially during the last 30 min or so. A more reduced storytelling would have helped the film to serve as quirky and fun "trash" film; the way it is now, it gets on one's never after a while.
I would like to add though that the overall employment of camera shots as well as most special effects were rather well done keeping in mind the budget of the film - I do see potential here; if there is to be a part two (what the opening ending allows for) I recommend considering a more succinct narrative.