Alps

Alps This bizarre film is directed by Yorgos Lanthimos. He is noted for his film Dogtooth that made quite a statement at TIFF in 2009. Apparently Yorgos doesn’t like films that are predictable and everything is explained. This film is listed as an absurd comedy. Absurd suits it to a ‘T’. I failed to see the comedy. I am unlike Yorgos. I don’t like a film that I cannot understand. I like to have a film unfold in a logical believable manner. The film centers around a strange group of people that belong to a club called ‘Alps’. Each person has the name of a famous mountain in Switzerland. What a strange group of people. They were not funny to me at all. In fact several of the men were scary and threatening. They promised violence if the others didn’t follow their instructions. Their goal was to take the place of a recently departed person to help the grieving of the existing family. We meet a nurse who is working when a young tennis player comes into the hospital with life threatening injuries after an accident. When she dies the nurse promises to be a daughter to the grieving parents. I fail to see anything funny in that concept. It was weird and didn’t work at all. She lives with her father who seems to stay home all day and reads. In the evening he goes ballroom dancing. His partner is a woman much taller. They do dance well together but look a little ridiculous. The daughter tags along and sits there morosely watching her father. In one scene she actually starts to touch her father inappropriately and he slaps her. My favorite character was a rhythmic gymnast. I loved watching her practice. She was amazing. Her brutal coach threatens her if she does not succeed. She even attempts suicide because she cannot cope with her trainer. There are weird sexual encounters. One man tells his wife what to say during sex. They both seemed to have on all their clothes. He was aggressive in talking to her and she is very passive. The audience was numb when it ended. Most just sat for a few minuets and didn’t move. I overheard several of the audience ask what that was all about. It is filmed in muted dark tones which aptly sit the mood. The characters are all bizarre. Other than the rhythmic gymnast I found the characters to be sinister, deceiving and strange. If that makes for good filmmaking I am not for it and obviously missed the point. I like some sense of order and a sense of understanding the main theme. Repression and authority are constantly running through the vignettes. I don’t enjoy watching women who are oppressed. I thought about leaving but confess that I was curious. I couldn’t even guess how it would all turn out. In the end it was not a satisfactory film experience.