Paradise: Hope is about 13 year old Melanie, which is sent on diet camp in the Austrian mountains, while her mother is on sex vacation in Kenya.
The third installment of the Paradise trilogy by Austrian Ulrich Seidl is not as great as the first two think. Still it's both interesting and funny, as an odd view of Austrian life. All film's are connected, as they are all about three persons in the same family, still they can without any problem be seen as individual films. But this, which I find the least interesting, is more interesting, if you think if the trilogy as a whole.
The three film's really worth a good discussion, and for a film club this is really something to enjoy. The films are all very realistic, and all are rising questions, without giving any answers. All the films balances ethical questions. What do we think about this, and that? It could all happen, not only in Austria, but elsewhere as well. Lines to cross, or not. Humans seeking out, trying, doing strange things, searching for either hope, God, emotions, recognition, satisfaction, life, entertainment... We could go on...
It's also interesting, this film as both a trilogy and as in it self, that it balances right and wrong with enjoyment/fun and sadness/tragedy, with seriousness and the comic of it all. It's a slice of life, of struggling with our demons. Seidel balances well. Keeps away from real controversy, but more than once approaches the nasty dilemma, but it's always terminated before it's getting really serious.
All films are kept in the same style, obviously, though filmed in very different environment. Slow, dwelling pictures, but never without any reason. The camera is still, often in a not to distant view, clinical, bleak. Still fresh and actually pastel. Probably not without reason, still not sure why.
Seidel is another very interesting Austrian director, which differs from the lot. Like Haneke he had a very distinct style. Very different from each other, and in a strong filming language. Simply interesting. I'm sure this trilogy will be seen upon as interesting for years to come. Deservedly so.
When this is only getting a 6/10 from me, as opposed to the better ratings for the first two, this is due to the lesser interesting and driving plot. It fades out without giving a real impression, and a small disappointment lingers, since the first was so good. Paradise: Love was interesting in any levels. If thus bad. Er the first, and he first the last, it would have given a greater impact. Maybe that is what Seidl wants us to discover. If I am to watch the three films again, I surely would reverse the trilogy, and try to discover if there's more to it than I saw during the first watch.
