surfs_up1976

Seems like there is a bit of bashing going on here - this film is very unusual, and to a certain degree very asymmetric. But I enjoyed the ride, and most of all, I enjoyed that as a viewer you are being kept guessing and become increasingly insecure about what's reality and what isn't.

Yes, the lead actor is the main weakness of this film - don't know how that one made it through the casting process, but apart from that, there are a few very strong moments in it.

I had a fun time watching it, and considering the fact that this is a hyper low budget film, it is actually quite considerable what the team pulled off here.

This is not a high budget blockbuster (even if the poster suggests so) but a creative independent film, anyone who expects more kinda misses the point here.

I think at this point it is important to explain the background of this film and I also believe that metaphors would be the best to describe it as this movie is full of them.

Tyrol is a province in Western Austria, its people traditionally stubborn, tough but very soft on the inside. Core of their identity is a freedom fighter named Andreas Hofer, a guy who led the Tyroleans to two victories against the French and Bavarian armies in 1809 - even Napoleon was impressed. So he is the Che Guevara of Tyrol and represents the pride of these peoples.

In recent decades there have been many glorifications of this character, adding myth and legend and ultimately completely distorting the actual truth about his nature and beliefs. Now we have film here that does exactly the opposite.

This film assumes that Hofer was not even Austrian but a German who was abandoned as a child due to the black death. That's where the chaos starts. Even though he was raised in Tyrol he doesn't speak the native dialect but "High German", alienating him from the rest of the villagers who desperately try to make him "Tyrolean".

In almost every scene 1810 quotes famous Hollywood movies like Kill Bill, 300 and the Exorcist. At some points it seems like it doesn't even try to be convincing but that's probably also due to the fact the makers had virtually no budget at all. Most of the actors are volunteers and the makers, who are also the writers, producers, directors etc, appear in multiple roles throughout the movie. That again gives this production a little bit of a South Park characteristic as they do an incredible job in portraying each character.

Yes, the humor might not be everyone's cup of tea as it is very in-your-face slapstick with a timbre of Monty Python mixed with traditional Tyrolean wit. For Tyroleans this poses the biggest problem. It isn't really patriotic, no, exactly the opposite - it questions too many "facts" that traditional Tyroleans rely on and runs over them like a bulldozer, sometimes charmingly but mostly mercilessly.

I found it to be highly original and a welcome refreshment to the constant over-glorification of a character that actually rather stood for old merits and a conservative society. No doubt, this film is for a younger generation that is open to discuss history, the elders will definitely blindly reject this piece.

...but I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Reviewing films nowadays is tough because there are so many formulated films that don't really come up with a lot of originality but rather distractions to blur their lack of creativity.

I have to admit that I was one of the few chosen ones who has seen this film in theaters (twice!!!). At first I was confused and disgusted but at second view I was fascinated by the bizarre topic and setting.

The basic idea isn't new. Investigator comes to a secluded village, gets rejected and discovers a greater evil that he can't escape. Heard that before, right? So what makes this movie different from the others? First of all, the acting is superb - not in the classical sense - but I buy it, and I think that is the main challenge today. As long as acting looks like acting it is simply acting - but if you manage to make your performance transcend the common reception of acting you open a whole new door. Jürgen Prochnov ironically, though playing well, is not the highlight of this film. It is this morbid chemistry of the villagers that give you chills running down your spine.

The whole story also develops very welcome "hick-ups" at some points that I was delighted by.

I definitely wouldn't recommend this film to the average wow-cinema-movie-goer who expects a linear story line that leaves no room for oddities or surprises. But if you are the kind of person that wants something different and utterly dark, THIS is for you!