Bildnis einer Trinkerin

A posh aristocrat's drunken shuffle through the post-modern, post-structuralist wasteland of post-war Berlin signifies a repudiation of modern ethics and expectations... Prost! Language is no longer a viable method of communication. Excess is no longer a privilege of the upper class. Modernity's failed pledge for unity built on the preservation of logic and ambition has resulted in the celebration of resignation and the descent into hedonistic splendor. To act irrationally, to reject rational thought, is the only logical continuation in the wake of twentieth-century horrors. The appeal for harmony and beauty through art and culture has been replaced by the promise of temporary happiness and decadence through hollow consumerism; "pleasure gained not by aggression but by regression." The film poses the question: which is worse? External destruction or spiritual dilution; one is the product of the other, and both are roads that lead to the annihilation of individualism. Ticket to No Return is a beautifully shot and artfully imagined film that is simultaneously profound and ludicrous. Its incessant absurdity is both endearing and insufferable, revealing and isolating. By no means is it thoroughly enjoyable, though it does present the viewer with rich aesthetics and a thought-provoking narrative.