Paradise: Hope

Paradise: Hope

Film poster
Directed by Ulrich Seidl
Produced by Ulrich Seidl
Written by Veronika Franz
Ulrich Seidl
Starring Melanie Lenz
Release dates
  • 8 February 2013 (2013-02-08) (Berlin)
  • 22 February 2013 (2013-02-22) (Austria)
Running time
100 minutes
Country Austria
Language German

Paradise: Hope (German: Paradies: Hoffnung) is a 2013 Austrian drama film directed by Ulrich Seidl, the third in his Paradise trilogy. The film premiered in competition at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival.[1][2] It was screened in the Contemporary World Cinema section at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival.[3][4]

Cast

Plot

While Melanie's mother spends her holidays in Kenya, a group of overweight teenagers go a diet camp in the Austrian mountains. Everyday life in the camp is marked by drills, rationed meals, and food counseling. At night, the girls discuss puberty's problems, smoke cigarettes, and take food from the kitchen. Melanie falls in love with her physician and director of the camp. The doctor is torn between the duty to professional distance and his emotions, which become stronger against his will. At the end, he forces himself to prohibit further contact between him and Melanie, causing her deep distress.

Reception

In a positive review, Steven Boone noted that "Seidl is fascinated with the little ways people decorate their lives to reflect the brighter future they are toiling for within a rigid system that both promises that future and continually denies it."[5] He also pointed out that "Seidl's camera always stands back to let the women's environments and their orientation within them tell their stories in a way that can inspire compassionate recognition." In the New York Times, Stephen Holden observed that the movie "contemplates the tyranny of what is nowadays sometimes referred to as “body fascism” in a society that holds out nearly impossible ideals of beauty and youth."[6]

References

  1. "First Films for the Competition and Berlinale Special". berlinale. Retrieved 2013-01-02.
  2. "Paradise: Hope: Berlin Review". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2013-02-10.
  3. "Paradise: Hope". TIFF. Retrieved 2013-08-24.
  4. "Toronto Adds 75+ Titles To 2013 Edition". Indiewire. Retrieved 2013-08-24.
  5. Boone, Steven. "Paradise: Hope Movie Review & Film Summary (2013) | Roger Ebert". www.rogerebert.com. Retrieved 2015-10-04.
  6. Holden, Stephen (2013-12-16). "'Paradise: Hope,' the Third Film in Ulrich Seidl's Unblinking Trilogy". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2015-10-04.
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