THE FOREST FOR THE TREES -- Maren Ade, dir.

©2003
studio: German Films
dir: Maren Ade
cast: Eva Lobau, Daniela Holtz, Jan Neumann, Ilona C. Schulz, Robert Schupp, Heinz-Roser Dumming
screenplay: Maren Ade
Newport Intl Film Festival BEST FILM
Sundance Festival: Special Jury Prize
subtitled

short film: ESTES AVENUE by Paul Cotter

A socially inept young woman gets a teaching jobin the middle of the school year, and has a nervous breakdown over her failures.

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This was an absolutely awful film. I struggled to watch it, but kept going because I had hopes that it would get better. It never did, and I can't help but wonder what it was about this film that it managed to win some moderately prestigious awards.

Shot on video, it has the quality of an amateur homemade video, as if the camera were following this woman as part of a reality show. For that, the idea was effective, but it also added to making this very unwatchable.

What we see in the woman is not just social ineptitude, but stalker mentality. To sit in the window and watch her neighbor through binoculars, is more than pathetic, it's pschotic. So why are we following this woman? What redeeming qualities does she have? If none, what are we to get from seeing this?

I can't answer these questions, but I can recommend that you steer clear of this film.