LookinGood Reviews

Gate to Heaven (2003)

A Frankfurt fairy tale.

[7/10 · 10 May 2009]

Ever imagined what is going on behind the scenes at an international airport? This German film gives an imaginative picture of how it might be. Between illegal immigrants, asylum seekers, baggage handlers and various other airport workers, a story about dreams develops. A Indian cleaning lady wants to become a flight attendant and an illegal immigrant from Russia works and lives underground on the airport premises with a group of other Illegals, while dreaming of a career as an airline pilot.

Travelling by baggage conveyor and using other people's ID cards to bluff their way through checkpoints, they take us into the underworld of Frankfurt Airport. A wondrous place, where one can access simulators and parked aeroplanes and move about like fish in the water. Where an illegal immigrant works on one of the museum planes on display to make it airworthy again --to carry him back home to Ulan Bataar.

Sounds like a fairy tale? I believe it *is* a fairy tale, and the makers were taking cues from Bollywood films, not only in the staging of a few dance scenes but also in creating a colourful cinematography for a drab place like an airport. Although a German production, this is a light-hearted comedy, not least thanks to the very international team that got together to make this (German comedies can be very heavy-handed, at times...). Don't expect too much in the way of romance, the storyline is sometimes a bit far-fetched, but it is an enjoyable way to spend an evening in front of the Telly.

Die Novizin (2002 TV Movie)

Hits the nail on the head.

[9/10 · 24 February 2007]

You'll see many nuns in this TV film, and the setting is an Abbey near Frankfurt, Germany. But it is fact not a film about the cloister, not even about the church. It is a film about questioning your place in life.

I have been there, done that. No, I did not take up the veil, nor am I catholic, but I did take the long and stony path of a conversion (a jump into quite a different non-Christian world, equal to Monas way from the non-religious world to a nunnery). This film is true on so many levels that it would take its running time to recount them. I have felt the elation, the amazement, I have had moments of deep despair, I have met resistance of family and of new sisters (and brothers) in faith ("What does *she* want here...?"). I have questioned my own motives and wishes and those of others, and find all this portrayed by Kathrin Kühnel. The story keeps twisting and turning and you are not sure until almost the very last minute where Mona will go. All is told while mostly avoiding the usual clichés and with some rather unusual and interesting camera-work and cuts. The moment this comes out on DVD, I'll buy one.

Highly recommended.

Solaris (2002)

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from Magic. -Arthur C. Clarke

[8/10 · 20 December 2006]

I decided to see this film at the worst time, probably: Sick, in bed, sleeping 20 hours of the day. The day I felt a bit better, I decided I would like to watch a film. This one had come in as an add-on with the TV magazine, and I remembered seeing the posters way back in 2002 (for some reason I didn't go and see it then. Pity.). So, popped the DVD into my laptop, got my good earphones, and crawled back into bed. If you now think I fell asleep after 10 minutes, you are wrong. Despite my state, I was mesmerized. This is something I hadn't come across for a long time.

From the moment you see Chris Kelvin (Clooney) sitting on his bed, head in hands, and hear the voice of Rheya (McElhone) in voice-over you know that this is not going to be a normal sci-fi film. You witness Kelvin act out the things of everyday life, making appointments with clients, holding group sessions as a psychologist, but you feel quite early on that there are demons from his past haunting him. Soderbergh also enhances this by keeping the focus on Kelvin, and having other people vanish into the blurred background, only leaving their voices to be heard.

These demons are becoming more real once he reaches Solaris on his investigation mission. One of the most memorable scenes for me was the first appearance of Rheya. Kelvin darting out of his bed, hitting his head, trying to wake up and finally understanding that this is real and not a dream. Sent shivers down my spine. And while Chris loses his grip on reality, Rheya becomes more real and more aware of herself and of the fact that her existence is something "unreal". At first Rheya is only talking in formulas, but as the film progresses, she develops a new personality and we see Rheya (Solaris) becoming more like Rheya (Earth) again. And there are the two other members of the crew, Dr. Gordon (v. Davis) and Snow (J. Davies). Snow is...- weird, and Davies' creepy characterisation was spot on, IMO. You'll understand *why* Snow acts this way later in the film. The only person choosing reality instead of dreams, and incidentally the only one to survive is Dr. Gordon. She also is the one that ultimately figures out a way to get rid of the apparitions and doesn't hesitate to do so.

There is another member of the cast that merits mention and that is the score. In most films, the score is either utterly forgettable or tells you the story in broad strokes and with thumping drums. In this one, it felt like a fifth character, setting the mood for a scene, and freshening up the atmosphere with a little splash of notes here and there. It also kept you in a kind of... trance-like mood in parts, thereby adding another layer to the "reality or dream?" question that permeates the film.

Soderbergh took Lem's classic science fiction story and made something entirely different from it, but still a classic sci-fi story, exploring love, reality, minds and sanity.

Kiss me Kismet (2006 TV Movie)

Extra points for T-Shirt slogans.

[7/10 · 31 March 2006]

***Contains some spoilers (characters, props)***

I rarely had so much fun watching a TV comedy. I was constantly laughing out loud while watching this film (yesterday on German TV). A fast-paced really funny piece of entertainment. Very often, such "ethnic" Comedies are just rehashing clichés, and are not feeling "real" at all. But this one did feel real, funny without going over the top. Well, maybe the Turkish-gay-policeman brother was a bit over the top, but still great. Every one of the concerned parties (Turks, Germans, the Traditionalists, the Religious, local salesmen and German Gutmenschen) got, what they deserved, no false respect, equal opportunities. Hilarious! Forget "My Big Fat Greek Wedding", watch this one instead. I would watch it again, if only I had videotaped it.

Oh yes, Horst's T-Shirt slogans get an extra point. "Versuchstier", "Bin (im) Laden" (pun on "shopkeeper's in"), and many others. I was just waiting for Horst to show up again, to see the next one!