"Paradise: Love" or "Paradies: Liebe" is Ulrich Seidl's first installment in his "Paradise" trilogy. It premiered at the "Cannes Film Festival" last year, but only recently has been widely available. Even on your first glance at a promotional poster or still of the film, it is pretty clear that the word "paradise" is meant to be sarcastic. The film stars Margarete Tiesel as a middle aged Austrian housewife named Teresa,who lives in an apartment block in Vienna with her overweight, teenage daughter. Teresa is a single mother and longs for a man to satisfy her sexual needs as well as show her love and passion. She and her two friends decide to go on a vacation to Kenya to unwind from the stresses of everyday life. Teresa's friend, Inga has visited Kenya multiple times and is a regular patron of it's wide range of male prostitute's. She convinces Teresa to try out their services and claims that the experience is fantastic. Unlike Inga, Teresa faces a psychological dilemma of whether on not the young men find her attractive. This leads her to backing out of the sex that she is offered, until she meets a man named Munga, played by Peter Kazungu who offers his services for free and only asks for love. Unfortunately, for him love qualifies as financial aid to his relatives. Teresa soon realizes that she is being used and how low she has sunk
Director, Ulrich Seidl seems to have a very bleak and distorted view of the world. "Paradise: Love" is an incredibly depressing examination of the human condition, but at the same time it is painfully honest. Similar to Lars Von Trier, Seidl seems to enjoy exploring the filth hidden inside human beings and seeing how much humiliation a human being can endure. In no way could I possibly say that I enjoyed this film, but it most definitely is good cinema. Despite it being utterly repugnant, it does provide some intricate social commentary not only on prostitution, but on the state of decay in which Africa is currently in. The film forges it's own sick brand of cynical humor, which intentionally does not bring some light to the story, but make it feel even more cringe worthy. On a technical level "Paradise: Love" succeeds at showcasing Kenya's beauty as well as diving into it's dark recesses which is topped off by very long takes and tracking shots, which are always a great addition to a film.
I'm not sure I would like to see it again, but nevertheless "Paradise: Love" is a painfully honest example of great social commentary and an examination of Africa's recent decay. Margarete Tiesel gives a great and incredibly brave performance, which is topped off with Ulrich Seidl's fantastically disgusting direction. After seeing this, I'm very keen on seeing the next installment in the series, "Paradise: Faith"
Director, Ulrich Seidl seems to have a very bleak and distorted view of the world. "Paradise: Love" is an incredibly depressing examination of the human condition, but at the same time it is painfully honest. Similar to Lars Von Trier, Seidl seems to enjoy exploring the filth hidden inside human beings and seeing how much humiliation a human being can endure. In no way could I possibly say that I enjoyed this film, but it most definitely is good cinema. Despite it being utterly repugnant, it does provide some intricate social commentary not only on prostitution, but on the state of decay in which Africa is currently in. The film forges it's own sick brand of cynical humor, which intentionally does not bring some light to the story, but make it feel even more cringe worthy. On a technical level "Paradise: Love" succeeds at showcasing Kenya's beauty as well as diving into it's dark recesses which is topped off by very long takes and tracking shots, which are always a great addition to a film.
I'm not sure I would like to see it again, but nevertheless "Paradise: Love" is a painfully honest example of great social commentary and an examination of Africa's recent decay. Margarete Tiesel gives a great and incredibly brave performance, which is topped off with Ulrich Seidl's fantastically disgusting direction. After seeing this, I'm very keen on seeing the next installment in the series, "Paradise: Faith"