Saw this at the Rotterdam film festival 2017 (website: iffr.com). In a word disappointing. The screenplay went very different from what I assumed beforehand given the synopsis on festival website. But what bothered me the most were the stupid repeats, often completely out of sync. It was not boring, however, and the diversity of the protagonists compensated a bit for the lack of real contents and missing insights in what made them tick. Anyway, the average festival visitor was not impressed. This movie ranked at a lowly 122nd place (out of 172).
Much running time is devoted to assembling the group before they came into action, however without telling anything about their plans, why they did it this way, and how this group came together in the first place. The group is a peculiar mixture of colors, backgrounds, education and everything else that could have worked as binding element, which I would a priori assume as useful information given their intentions. The synopsis on the IFFR website warned beforehand for a "non-political hole" as the "abyss the characters gaze into". My own conspiracy theory is that the film makers wanted to avoid any link to religion or right/left-wing politics, in a desperate attempt to prevent viewers from being affronted or insulted.
Apart from the void political stance, the reasoning about hiding in the warehouse overnight is puzzling too. We amply observe with our own eyes that it is a huge risk, given the size of the warehouse and the many temptations inside, let alone that some group members take enormous risks of being exposed or get detached from the group. Take for instance the one who desperately wanted a smoke after being warned several times by fellow group members for smoke detectors inside. So he had to leave the building, where he even invited an apparent hobo inside to relieve him of the cold weather.
The news fragments we saw on TV's inside the building foreshadowed the outcome of this sabotage deed. It was stated with so many words that these terrorists were declared enemies of the state, and that there was no obligation for any negotiation. A happy ending seems thus far away.
Much running time is devoted to assembling the group before they came into action, however without telling anything about their plans, why they did it this way, and how this group came together in the first place. The group is a peculiar mixture of colors, backgrounds, education and everything else that could have worked as binding element, which I would a priori assume as useful information given their intentions. The synopsis on the IFFR website warned beforehand for a "non-political hole" as the "abyss the characters gaze into". My own conspiracy theory is that the film makers wanted to avoid any link to religion or right/left-wing politics, in a desperate attempt to prevent viewers from being affronted or insulted.
Apart from the void political stance, the reasoning about hiding in the warehouse overnight is puzzling too. We amply observe with our own eyes that it is a huge risk, given the size of the warehouse and the many temptations inside, let alone that some group members take enormous risks of being exposed or get detached from the group. Take for instance the one who desperately wanted a smoke after being warned several times by fellow group members for smoke detectors inside. So he had to leave the building, where he even invited an apparent hobo inside to relieve him of the cold weather.
The news fragments we saw on TV's inside the building foreshadowed the outcome of this sabotage deed. It was stated with so many words that these terrorists were declared enemies of the state, and that there was no obligation for any negotiation. A happy ending seems thus far away.