True Love Ways

A grind-house revenge exploitation movie though an art-house lens. Though artificial black and white cinematography is generally irritating, it suits the dreamlike and visually intense atmosphere of this film. But the abstraction and tastefulness cause any horror to lose much its immediacy, and the movie is as infused with boredom as with monochrome. A review describing even the basic plot is therefore spoiling some of its scarce impact. In this sicko's opinion there is also an insufficient amount of nudity for the plot: the most obscene imagery is a closeup of tape being removed from lips. But Anna Hausburg is enjoyable to watch, and the film is well-crafted.

The main character fails to evoke empathy because she fails to be a complete character. We spend a ridiculous amount of time with her doing nothing (does she even have a job?) but being a frigid, vague, disinterested, boring girlfriend and person in general. She's pretty in a girl-next-door kind of way, but there's nothing spectacular about her face or figure (she could be a German 10 for all I know)--the reason I mention that is because there is NOTHING that is a draw about her as a person unless the guys are superficial, and even then she's a bore. Frankly, she sounded like she enjoyed her vibrator the most.

The premise is interesting, but it's executed blandly, and it looked cheap at times, especially an explosion at one point. The acting is that bland, passionless German style that doesn't move me in any way whatsoever--yelling, crying, confessing hurtful things, it's all passionless. The film itself is also black and white for no discernible reason aside from pretentiousness. I'm seeing a pattern in how reviews not outright praising the film are being received, but I don't care. It's just passable at best.

I really love this movie. It has a wonderful timeless, nostalgic feel played out in B&W. The mise en scene is evocative of French cinema, with Roman Polanski and David Lynch notes lifted by the hit recording by Buddy Holly. Everything in the mise en scene of this movie evokes both a feeling of unease and charm. It is beautiful, and yet disturbing, and somehow this delicate combination lifts it into a work of artistic merit in terms of cinema-photography and film-making.