English
An otherworldly journey through a Europe in decline - a collection of darkly humorous, fantasy tales about ill-fated characters and doomed fortune-with echoes of Lynch and Gilliam.
Film fans are so accustomed to post-apocalyptic wastelands these days that it is a relief when writer/director Chino Moya cuts away from the grim, Chernobyl-esque setting that opens his portmanteau and dives into the first of several bizarre stories.
It focuses on a familiar motif: the domestic intruder who seems to slowly take over. But this familiarity is made engaging by compelling performances, an eerie visual style, and Wojciech Golczewski's alternately pounding and woozy synth score. Soon, new characters weave in and fresh stories are told (or half-remembered) as the gothic fairy tales of E.T.A Hoffmann are invoked in a very Lynchian way.
Intelligent production design heightens a glum, post-modern vision of Europe, and, by the time an excellent Adrian Rawlins and Kate Dickie pop in for a comic re-tread of previous events, the nightmare logic of this strikingly loopy film almost makes sense.
Our thanks to Modern films for this film.
