Wetlands (2013) User Reviews

worth seeing

[kreatief · 7/10 · 4 October 2013]

If you expect a voyeuristic documentary about female wetlands you are in for a surprise. One part is about gross phantasies with similar appeal like splatter movies, but the other part is an interesting portrait of a divorce-child with dysfunctional parents. Those bits not only explain the psychological motivations very well, together with the fun parts of her weird doings wrapping this movie, it is a light approach to such a heavy topic.

I really liked the subtle affects the movie played with. It was able to develop some erotic just to destroy it immediately. And I wasn't always sure if she was to be considered a sane persona. But again, all very playful and light.

All in all a relevant piece of contemporary cinema, with outstanding action and production values.

Repelling yet Riveting!

[sohansurag · 6/10 · 23 September 2014]

There is nothing that could concise David Wnendt's Feuchtgebiete aka Wetlands in a single word. Well if one's given the liberty to express what they'd seen or rather witnessed in a plethora of words, it'd most likely be something close to obscene, disgusting, repulsive and most of all shocking. If you've seen its red band previews, you can figure out instantly whether the movie is for you or not. On the other hand if you thought this'd be a usual sex- comedy with some gross factor, believe me when I tell ya what you saw in the preview is nothing compared to the movie. Nothing will prepare you for Wetlands' odd 105 minutes.

Greeted initially with a splendid shot of a skater girl, it quickly goes downhill before you can say "ugh". Wetlands follows the sexual and unhygienic adventures of Helen Memel, a girl who is hellbent on making her life as unhygienic as possible and labeling it as her 'experiments'. Helen played charmingly by Carla Juri, is on an experiment with her own genitals and whatnot as she initially states in the movie. Its kind of a parallel she draws with how she feels for her parents and their divorce. While light at heart, the seemingly damaged 18 year old as Helen may seem it also brings out how bad she needed to be loved.

Beneath the layers of her weird habits and unimaginable sexual fantasies, lies the conflict with herself and an intense yearning for her parents' reconciliation. And Carla Juri does justice to the role. Her performance was inexplicably good, shuffling from cute and sexy to crude and repelling seemed like an easy feat for her. Right from the CG titles, her narration reminded me sorely of David Fincher's Fight Club.

I for one consider myself hardened, watching movies like A Serbian Film, The Human Centipede, Martyrs, Inside, Hostel or even Salo but there were scenes in Wetlands that truly deserved to be called cringe worthy. I wouldn't suggest Wetlands for the faint of heart/stomach or the more perverse either. As evident from the trailers this was marketed as a over the top raunchy comedy but if you overlook all those gross and perverse segments (which is hard I know), there is a sensibly written story about the perils a late- adolescent girl goes though be it physical or emotional. This movie does a decent or rather an indecent job of blending the aversion with a story of someone who aches for some love. I wonder if the same would work had it been a male lead, and of course an immediate reminiscence was Qaushiq Mukherjee's Gandu.

A Gross-Out Rom Com With A Surprising Amount of Heart

[blakiepeterson · 6/10 · 2 May 2015]

Wetlands is the kind of movie where things like jizz-covered pizzas, anal tearings, vegetable-based masturbation, purposeful vaginal dirtying, and other taboos are thrown into our face and someone, most likely David Wnendt, wants us to accept the graphic vulgarity like we accepted There's Something About Mary or one of those eye-roll inducing Hangover films. Wetlands dares to call itself a romantic comedy, a coming-of-age story, a family drama, and a gross-out assembly line, and if it were written by someone like Seth Rogen then maybe, just maybe, it would have turned into a sh*t covered disaster. But under Wnendt's authority, it's likable, even if much of it is frustrating. It goes through stretches where it's earnest, legitimately touching, but it also has a tendency to turn around the next minute and tell us about another bodily dysfunction that we'd rather not hear about when we're eating. Part of me wishes it was dirty like a 1960s sex comedy, provocative but not overtly so. But Wetlands can be so appallingly gross that any form of realness seem to be covered in some STDs you caught from a smelly hippie down the street.

At the center of the filth is Helen Memel (Carla Juri), a sexually rambunctious 18-year-old who spends her free time exploring her body in the most disgusting ways imaginable. In the opening alone, a barefoot Helen attends an underground public bathroom so repulsive that it makes a backwoods 7-11 restroom seem pristine. And, as if things couldn't get any more nauseating, she decides to rub herself around the … oh, never mind. Just discussing it makes me shudder.

The film continues in a series of revolting events that seem more NC-17 than cutely edgy, climaxing when Helen accidentally tears her anus (yes, her anus) while hastily shaving. When she finds herself in the hospital for surgery, she cooks up a foolproof plot: as the daughter of divorced parents, she wants nothing more than to get them back together, so why not stage a reconciliation during visiting hours? To Helen, it's ingenious. To us, the thought is depressing, to say the least. But a blossoming romance with a male nurse (Christoph Letkowski) promises better things to come in a world where sexual experimentation is the only source of feeling.

Wetlands is kinda sorta scatterbrained; who knew a movie could transform from a gross-out comedy into a melancholic drama? The best parts of the film, which are (1) the last thirty-minutes and (2) the melancholic drama components, are really, really good; finally, the gags end and deal with Helen as a human instead of an icky caricature. We're given an explanation as to why she is the way she is, and what we find out is gut- punchingly sad — yet it doesn't fit. I can understand her position (ex.: does horrifying things to her body to numb the pains of reality), but I don't understand why the film has to show what she does and what she fantasizes about with such explicit detail. I guess it's meant to shock, but the film is far too well-made to merely act as an exploitation movie. Wetlands covers several genres, and they all work wonderfully; problem is, there's always a slutty cousin wandering about in the background haunting any hint of authenticity. For many films, the level of wildness in a dirty joke can be a calling card (a la American Pie's pie, There's Something About Mary's "hair gel"), but in Wetlands, a dirty joke — scratch that, a dirty image, is a major weakness.

But if you can stomach the vileness of it all, the film is more sweet than it is sickening. There are truly funny moments, and there are affecting moments too. As a coming-of-age drama, its ballsiness is refreshing. And Juri, a combination of Greta Gerwig, Run Lola Run era Franka Potente, and a young Cécile de France, may as well already be a star. With my last impression of Wetlands being that of the earlier mentioned "melancholic drama", though, it must have done something right, despite being one of the most disgusting films I've ever seen. And that's saying something, considering it travels through the microscopic world of a pubic hair within its first few minutes like it's a roller coaster ride.

Explicit Tale

[kosmasp · 6/10 · 3 February 2014]

I have to admit, I never read the novel this is based on. But I'm guessing the people who don't like the movie at all (which is fine), either haven't read the book or don't like the book. I'm saying this, because what you are getting here, is very close to adult films. Something people in Germany (censors that is), do not have a problem with (the movie is rated 16+).

I can only guess the movie will be NC-17 (if they rate it) in America. There are explicit images of male genitalia, a lot bare breasts (though mostly of our main female lead). With all that said, I went into the movie with the impression I wouldn't like it at all. And maybe it didn't really need all those ... (sometimes disgusting) "shots" (no pun intended) or the language. But the central story about someone looking for love and not being able to connect (because of their weird childhood, to say the least), is strangely appealing ...

The Cringe worthy moments Pollutes this seemingly interesting Artsy film...

[SBlues · 2/10 · 2 September 2014]

"Wetlands" was made for Shock Value. No real person is as stupid and gullible as the characters in this film are almost every day of their lives.

It's not funny or arousing or entertaining watching an ignorant and promiscuous female go through an entire film doing extremely disgusting and hazardous things (that was clearly scripted and/or directed to shock viewers that aren't into these types of fetishes).

I wasn't surprised by anything in the film because I've personally witnessed many women and men (especially German men) online that enjoy disgusting body fluids oozing out of the body whether it was their own or someone else. They also enjoy S&M and other forms of self-mutilation and torture of their body parts beyond what would be considered pleasurable.

I love artistic indie films with explicit sex, especially when the finished film is uncensored. I also enjoy films that aren't afraid to experiment creatively but I hate excessive and unnecessary violence. There was no violence in this movie but there were endless scenes of the female lead digging in her vagina (and Anus) for disgusting excrement. She enjoyed the smell and taste of whatever was inside of her vagina.

Based on how careless and nasty she was throughout the film, like walking barefoot into a flooded public restroom, rubbing her ass and vagina over a very dirty toilet; I thought she would have been hospitalized for more than just an infected hemorrhoid.

Just when you think she will finally begin to grow up and act like a normal person after having surgery; she continues her obnoxious behavior in the hospital; she also flirts with a cute male nurse, constantly putting his job at risk but he didn't care because he was fascinated by her "boyish" charm of being a care free, flirtatious and slutty spirit that he wished all girls could be.

The CRINGE worthy moments pollutes (in a distracting manner) this seemingly interesting Artsy foreign film, so much so that I had to force myself to watch it through to the end.

Offbeat, Gross, Charming, Repulsive, Honest, Sad & Funny

[Movie-Mate · 7/10 · 15 August 2014]

Wetlands or "Feuchtegbiete" as it is called in Germany is an adaptation from the Bestselling Novel by German Author and Ex VIVA Host Charlotte Roche! The Book was quit a scandal when it first came out due to it's honest and unadorned description of female Sexuality. Due to it's graphic sexual contend and detailed description of all kind of Taboo Themes and large numbers of Body fluids the book was deemed unfilmable. But, as it is the case with most unfilmable Books, they had to make a movie! Having never read the Book and judging from all i heard about it, i was quit surprised when i saw the Movie! The tone was much lighter then i had expected! While the Film is quit open and explicit with it's depiction of Sex, Body hygiene and social taboos like hemorrhoids, i never felt it to be repulsive or shocking. The Movie is very funny and plays mostly for laughs. Yet, by taking the Characters and there Situations seriously it also gives it some unexpected depth! Special Mention most go to Carla Juri who brings a natural charm to her Part and proofs that she can carry a movie with ease! I'm very interested to see where her career will take her in the years to come.

While certainly not for everybody i am convinced, that many people will have a good time watching this movie. Women especially should be able to identify with the lead character and will recognise many of the problems and challenges she faces throughout the Film.

Definitely one of the better Movies that have come out of Germany for quit some time!

I got bored with shock and disgust while watching this film

[fraukeritter · 1/10 · 20 June 2017]

I instantly knew that this film was written and directed by men, because the female characters, including Helen, the main character, lack any credibility to me, as a woman.

I also felt that the shock factor was only used to make money, not really to achieve any artistic or philosophical depth. It's difficult to shock these days, the film does it by an (excessive) exposure of all kinds of body fluids and dirt, to the point of boredom. I also felt that the main character was shallow and not likable in any way.

I'm a big fan of Lars von Trirer and nothing of that which is human is alien to me. But this felt like a desperate call for attention, rather than a valuable (while shocking) cinema.

A delicate balance of a trash art and character study

[StevePulaski · 8/10 · 15 January 2015]

Wetlands is a film that prides itself on being gross, unsavory, and not for the faint of heart, but does so in such a candy-colored manner that also masquerades as an attempt at sensory overload that it forbids you from looking away at all its grossness. It gives us a lot to zero-in on with every scene, from unadulterated narration, vibrantly-colored visuals, and explicitly-detailed fetishes carried out in a manner that make the film equal parts stomach turning (for some) and irresistible for others (like myself). If you're one of the people who thought that tampon-sharing and anal fissures were underexplored topics in contemporary cinema, or cinema in general, here's a film that gives you a nod and a thumbs up.

The film stars Carla Juri in a fearless role, especially for an actress so young and so inexperienced. She plays eighteen-year-old Helen Memel, a young woman obsessed with filth and depravity, so much so that she actively exposes her vagina to some of the most unclean places in society, like public bathrooms. She believes body hygiene, especially the cleanliness of the genitals, is hugely overrated, and relishes the thought of sexual pleasure through the use of vegetables. Helen's mom (Meret Becker) is a hygiene-obsessed, religious soul, constantly changing her religions and working to protect her daughter from a filthy society, and her father (Axel Milberg) is a cold, unfeeling soul who spends little time associating with her on a level that could be considered very loving. Helen is often left to look towards Corinna (Marlen Kruse), her best friend who engages in the same kind of depravity that she adores so much.

One thing Helen detests with all her heart is shaving, so naturally, she tries to conduct the act in the fastest manner possible. In the middle of shaving her buttocks, she gives herself an anal fissure, and winds up in the hospital in searing pain with a bulging blister. In the hospital, Helen recounts a lot of her parents' marriage to us, and establishes relationships with the nurses and such, making for a film that is equal parts devoted in showing the pasts of these characters as well as the present. With that, we also see the relationship between Helen and Corinna go beyond innocuous discussions of sex between one another to the point of the actual practice of sex and masturbation.

Writer/director David Wnendt and co-writer Claus Falkenberg do their best to balance Wetlands, making it equal parts a story filled with shock and gross-out gags but also an intense, unusual character study in the most rewarding sense. Wetlands isn't a film you necessarily watch, but feel; feel as it crawls underneath your skin, making even the most hardened, fearless film-watcher wince with its perversions and its depictions of sexual liberation and hygienic carelessness. Juri plays a character so in love with the idea of being unclean and unabashedly disgusting that she owns her role, and is fiercely watchable throughout the entire film.

Make no mistake, however, as Wetlands is a filthy film, arguably the filthiest released last year. Punk-rock in its attempt to destroy our social norms and trashy in the best sense, its desire to depict a variety of perversions, fetishes, and disregard for personal hygiene in explicit detail makes it one of the most daring and awe-inspiring pieces of work in quite sometime. I'm hesitant to bill it as satire, being that it seems to fully embrace this kind of deviant counterculture, however, I employ the rule of them I use in detecting and recommending satire with this film, and that is to see it because by fearing or condemning it without seeing it, you're only proving it correct.

Starring: Carla Juri, Marlen Kruse, Meret Becker, and Axel Milberg. Directed by: David Wnendt.

An Escape

[nonsoville · 6/10 · 24 January 2016]

I came across this movie randomly as a listing on the web and decided I was going to watch it on Netflix. Considering the fact I have never watched a German movie, I started watching this with the idea that things going on in the movie were normal to Germans. I found that absurd and disgusting.

I'll later come to understand that it is the Director David Wnendt who is a bit sick, not Germany. The film then started to make sense from that perspective. A dark humor, an escape from reality and the social norms of what is approved if you will. It's a coming of age movie about a girl who is somewhat discovering herself and dealing with the divorce of her parents.

The general package is good. Like many European movies I have seen, you sort of feel attached to the characters, like you are there in the movie. The editing, music choice and colors are also warm and in tune with the film.

Ghastly

[jafdip · 1/10 · 6 January 2015]

At the beginning of the movie a comment somebody placed on "Bild Online' said in German that this movies is so revolting and tragic it should never have been made. Although I think the intention was to mock the person who said this, having seen the movie I think that person was right. I like to think I have a pretty strong stomach but at the end of this I felt an overwhelming sense of despair and revulsion. If the purpose of the movie is to cause people to cut their wrists then I think it is a run away success.

The story is about a girl who was raised by a cold hearted psychopathic and (as it turns out downright evil) mother and an imbecilic father. In reaction to her mothers obsessive cleanliness she becomes as unhygienic as possible. She is probably meant to be portrayed as some kind of free spirit, but she comes across as a completely self absorbed and quite repulsive person, entirely devoid of any kind of morals or principles. As the movie progressed I ceased making excuses for her and came to loathe her character.

At the finale the reason for much of her behavior is revealed, but it doesn't provide closure because this is such a devastating and bleak study of the futility of life, or these peoples lives at any rate. This is a corrosive movie that you will not be better for watching, and I seriously recommend sensitive or depressed people avoid it.

Not for Everyone, but a Great Comedy With Depth

[ilikemoviesdude · 9/10 · 22 March 2014]

As stated in the Summary this is not a film for everyone. First off, be prepared if you are going to watch this to see a lot of nudity of both male and females. To me, I did not believe the nudity to be gratuitous, only real to the stories being told in the movie and to real life (we are all naked underneath our clothes, right?).

If you are the type of person that will be able to look past the nudity you may be able to relate, in ways, to the main character in the movie. Yes, much of the movie's comedy is driven by the characters philosophy toward sexual hygiene...or lack thereof. BUT, if you can be truthful to yourself while watching the movie, you may find that at points during the film you are able to relate and commiserate with the main character (sometimes embarrassingly), as she narrates her sexual fetishes seamlessly alongside her narration of the state of her broken family.

This film is not for the faint, or those that have a hard time with bodily fluids... BUT it is for those that want to live freely through an open minded main character.

As society and norms have made people question their sanity, and the "normal-ness" of what they choose to do behind closed doors, it is refreshing, exciting, and comedic to watch a film where the main character is unforgiving, open, and truthful about her sexuality and views toward life and the world.

Feels like a raunchier Juno

[Gracelovesmovies · 6/10 · 12 October 2014]

This has all the elements necessary to become a cult hit; adorable lead playing the role of a likable misfit, hipster music and dirty jokes. However, the pacing was a letdown and the execution of the plot left something to be desired.

Carla is perfect as Helen, a tomboyish girl rough around the edges with a chip on her shoulder. As with Juno portrayed by Ellen Page, Carla's Helen is a girl with seemingly not a care in the world, walking to the beat of her own drum. As with both, we realize that their attitude is only a front, and both are incredibly vulnerable beneath the surface. This vulnerability makes Helen endearing, and the scene in which Helen's (crazy) mother convinces her to leap into her arms then lets her fall is very powerful.

Unfortunately, the sharp jumps between dirty humour and heavy drama don't work, simply feeling too abrupt and ill-planned. This movie could have been a heart-wrenching dramedy but it feels like the director did not know exactly how he wanted to put all his thoughts together. While it felt like there was too many heavy scenes, I still left the film feeling that I hadn't gotten that deep into Helen's psyche, other than gaining the knowledge that her strange behavior stemmed from rebellion against her mother due to her parents' divorce.

A good example of dramedy done well (in my humble opinion) is the television series Girls in Love, which contrasted Ellie's dreamy pursuit of boys with her melancholic memories of her mother in hospital. Sugar Rush (which coincidentally stars the same lead actress) is another show did well to balance humour with drama.

The nudity in this film did feel gratuitous at points, and I got a bit weary of the sheer amount cramped in the film mere minutes apart. Did I think it necessary for the full frontal nudity of four men jerking off onto a pizza? No. But Helen skating down the hospital corridor with her butt out did make me chuckle, and fit well with her personality.

Carla Juri will go far for sure, being beautiful, likable and talented. I cannot wait to see her star in more films in the future. I also hope to see more of director David Wndendt's work and will probably take a look at his older films. With better editing, his future directorial efforts will probably be winners.

It was unnecessary to produce this film

[matze-p9 · 1/10 · 6 January 2014]

No one asked for such a film, yet it was produced. Trying to judge the film from serious aspects is doomed to fail. You do not have to be an educated film critic to notice, that this film is completely worthless. Trying to capture the viewer through feces and venereal diseases, is probably the lowest act of directing. In an absurd way it is tried that the audience identifies with the protagonist which fails of course. The strange surreal cutaways, which appear mainly towards the end, make the movie seem even more ridiculous than it already is.

My greatest wish, and I hope I will be heard is that we are spared with such nonsense in the future.

pushing the envelop

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 5 February 2017]

Helen is a rebellious teen skateboarder. She is deliberately unhygienic to rebel against her unstable mother. Her parents are divorced. Her mother has had many men and as many religions. Her father hurts her unintentionally. Her best friend Corinna often makes poor choices in boys. She accidentally cut herself while shaving causing an anal fissure. Her hospitalization gives her an idea to reunite her parents and then she falls for nurse Robin.

This German film pushes the sexual envelop with some aggressive subject matters. It doesn't shy away and lead actress Carla Juri is all too happy to push. Some of it is funny and a lot of it is shocking. If it doesn't offend, this movie actually delivers a compelling original character. However, I bet many would be offended or at least find some of this off-putting.

100% showy, 0% classy

[Horst_In_Translation · 2/10 · 13 April 2015]

"Feuchtgebiete" is a German movie running for clearly over 90 minutes (and dragging for most of it) from roughly 1.5 years ago. There was lots of media coverage around it as it was fairly explicit and polarizing in terms of the sexual content it depicted and dealt with. It is based on Charlotte Roche's partially autobiographic and very successful novel. I have not read it, but I can say that I think she is a smart woman and I enjoy seeing her in talk shows and so on. The first camera shot gives a good description where this film is headed. we see something that looks like a bare ass, but turns out to be the hollow of a knee. The movie is made my David Wnendt. He had quite a lot of success with his previous work "Kriegerin" and there is really nothing similar here like in that one, except that we have a female protagonist in both. The main actress here is Carla Juri and while she has received acclaim from so many awards bodies, I cannot see it at all. Her physical acting was mediocre, her narration was pretty awful, her voice is always the same, and sounded like taken from a bad television movie. She has no talent in terms of line delivery at all. For Juri this was the big breakthrough. Other well-known actors (before this film already) include Meret Becker (Otto Sander's daughter, as her mother), Axel Milberg (as her father) and Edgar Selge (as a doctor).

Now, let's talk about the plot. It is very repulsive. There are scenes, in which a young woman uses her genitals to wipe over a public toilet seat and she shows off that she does that on a regular basis and has never gotten any infection. In many other scenes, she puts her finger into something gross (inclusding herself) and licks on it afterward. She tries out all kinds of vegetable in the bathtub and makes a list which ones are most suitable for masturbation. People talk about putting their feces on their beloved's belly. Drugs are abused as if it was perfectly normal. This movie gives a lot of horrible messages and acts as if it was perfectly fine. No area of disgust gets left out. And in the face of all of this, the film tries to be actually relevant as it occasionally refers to the main character's wish for her parents to reunite again. This is the central dramatic storyline, when they are not talking razor injuries in the genital area that is. Anyway, that parents story line is, in my opinion, just a distraction from all the repulsive parts to make this movie somehow seem to have an appropriate plot that touches people.

To mention more details, there is a scene involving tampons that you really do not want to see and something involving pizza as well near the end. It's a mess of a film, neither funny, nor dramatically relevant. A movie can be shocking and still deliver a worthwhile story. This one does not even in the slightest achieve that. I highly recommend to stay away.

What's wrong seems like right for Helen.

[Reno-Rangan · 7/10 · 17 May 2015]

The reason I watched it was the director. 'Combat Girls' was a very good movie and I expected a similar result from this. But it was a totally different entertainer, so original and I was hooked throughout. It was based on the novel of the same name, a well received book and even it was translated to English later. But had some debate over saying it was an erotic related topic.

Whatever, I don't know the book, because I'm kind of a movie guy, so saw it and liked it. I did not find anything like the book was criticised. You're going to create your own visuals while reading a book, but in a motion picture it gives perfect everything, including background score, which is a plus point. For that, the book must land to a creative mind, the director with vision who can convince others with his exhibition.

We find the little kids around us in our daily life who never listen to their parents or anyone and do exactly the opposite to what they were told. Like an adamant character, even in some adults as well, which might developed during their childhood due to raised in a dysfunctional family or other similar circumstances of life they were brought in. This film revolves in a similar manner, but a bit ahead until you to get sick and say 'ew'.

It's better to have a scratched knee now, than to have a broken heart later on.

It was so disgusting and disgusting even more, in one word to say the grossest movie ever, perhaps among the top three or five or ten for sure. Whatever the possible way to make it happen, they used it to bring the outcome. If you ask me, I would say thank god I'm a man and it was the portrayal of a girl. The actress was pretty enough for anyone not to feel (that) bad for what you're going to witness, I call it an advantage for such a theme. Suppose it was an actor, I would have definitely turned it off in midway and said the F word.

A tale of an 18-year-old girl Helen, who explains why she's so antithesis by recalling her childhood memories. By the second half of her teen life, overtaken by sex fantasies, but that was not the whole movie. These all were to develop the character which took almost full movie leaving current scenario which takes place in the hospital tight and squeezed. Her relationship as individual with her family members a vital phase in the storytelling, which tells she never understood none of the three. Her father, a careless with sexual active man. Her mother brainwashes with over lessons and with her little brother, they never really had proper bro-sis thingy. By the last quarter of the film you will completely know the Helen and time to change your mind, possibly. But still disturbs us her adaptation of the theory of everything.

There are many movies where children are affected like Helen, but this film was absolutely a unique in the illustration of the sensitive topic. It's a debatable if parents take the film seriously, because it talk about parenting failure as well unhygienic thingy. Bit of fun, emetic, sexy, overall an exceptional movie for adults. Disgusting is a disgusting, if there is no problem accepting a change and variety in a movie that you usually watch and appreciate the effort, then this film could be a better entertainer. It should dub in English rather remake it if there is a consideration. I usually like German movies, because I'm picky, I choose wisely after a basic research. I knew it would be a commercial feature and I was prepared to enjoy it like that way.

7/10

Sexual perversity in Germany, and lots of bodily fluids as well

[gregking4 · 5/10 · 22 August 2014]

Some late night madness at the Melbourne International Film Festival! Sexual perversity in Germany, and lots of bodily fluids as well. Helen (played with energy and verve in a bravura and brave performance by Carla Juri) is a skateboarding teen obsessed with personal hygiene, sex, and her anus. The latter of which leads to an unfortunate incident that sees her hospitalised for an operation. While recuperating, she flirts with her male nurse Robin (Christophe Letkowski) and tries to affect a reconciliation between her divorced parents. Director David Wnendt (Combat Girls, etc) brings Charlotte Roche's controversial novel to the screen with imagination, and he throws everything at the audience with his in-your-face visual style that includes split screens, animation, heightened colour palette, and a throbbing music soundtrack. Much of it is deliberately done for shock value, but the effect soon wears off, and the film seems to overstay its welcome by 20 minutes. The film unfolds in non-linear fashion, while Helen's unapologetically provocative voice over narration leads the audience on a wild journey of sexual experimentation, drugs, family secrets and lies, and youthful exuberance. She is the typical unreliable narrator, and her story is at times over the top. The scatological humour in Wetlands is certainly crass and in your face, and the film will certainly shock and offend the more squeamish.

Beautiful and disgusting

[evito1 · 9/10 · 24 June 2015]

This is without a doubt the most disgusting film I've ever seen. The number of scenes in the movie that make you go "OMG" are probably not countable on one or even two hands.

However, the disgusting parts are never there just to arouse disgust. It is all done with a certain amount of grace and balance, by the director but by the main actress as well. I found myself having a good laugh a large number of times.

The main actress by the way is truly awesome, beautiful and appealing, and totally fit for the part.

There is enough of a storyline to make the movie interesting besides the focus on sex and filthy things.

I really totally recommend seeing this movie.

Eh

[lazjura · 6/10 · 9 January 2020]

It's a colourful movie. A fun time. Strange at times. Nasty at times. A quick watch. It's a 6, but don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it. Wouldn't recommend it for anyone as it's hard to explain this film without being judged. In a way, when I was explaining the plot of this movie to my friend, it felt like explaining and recommending a porno. So keep that in mind. I liked the visual aspect, the sound design. Then you might ask, but why is it a 6, oh mighty commentator? Because of the themes. You see, my dear reader, this movie tries to be something more than just a NSFW movie - it's a coming of age story. "Avatar" level storytelling - nature=good, destroy=bad. Everything thematically is told to us by Helen. No need to figure any underlying story out - we're too dumb, so Helen (she's the protagonist) will tell us everything. It goes on for the majority of the movie, except until the very end, when Helen doesn't state upfront everything - but by then, the interest is gone. So is gone the further analyzing, as you can see through the plot clearly. No need to ponder even 5 minutes. Movie finishes and you come out knowing about the character and the plot and its themes more than the staff who worked on the film probably knew. And it's a shame, because there certainly are interesting visuals, but when the movie's set up in a way that teaches its audience just to observe and not to think, you can't expect me to walk out and spend the rest of my night thinking about that scene, when Helen jumped into what appeared to be an empty pool. Did she die? But why was the story continuing? Was it the future?... There was no set up for that. You didn't teach me that. Most movies (the ones that want to make you think, at least) don't need to worry about that, because the story itself evolves in a way that rewards analyzation. In this film, the analysis is not needed - you're given all the answers without putting any work. But I still enjoyed "Wetlands" as a fun, but secretive pre-sleep movie.

I should have pulled the cord!!

[xangodad · 2/10 · 21 April 2018]

The only reason I gave it a 2 was the girl was cute!! A deranged girl with messed up parent.. Kind of shock video trying to get more disgusing as it film went on... Just not my cup of tee!!

Gross but totally worthwhile

[zetes · 8/10 · 1 February 2015]

One of the grossest films I've ever seen, delving into mysteries of the female anatomy that, as a man, I might rather have left a mystery, but it's wild and original and smart. If you have a strong stomach, it's well worth attempting. Carla Juri plays a horndog 18 year-old girl with a bad case of hemorrhoids. The problem is exacerbated when she badly cuts herself shaving her butthole. She quickly enters the hospital for surgery. During the recuperation, she starts a flirtatious relationship with a cute male nurse (Christoph Letkowski) and attempts to use her hospital stay to reunite her divorced parents (Meret Becker and Axel Milberg). The butt stuff is not nearly the most disturbing part of this movie, but it manages to be quite funny and charming even while it's at is most horrifying. Unfortunately, when it arrives at a more dramatic climax, it doesn't really feel earned, so the whole film deflates a bit. Juri is absolutely amazing, giving one of my favorite performances of recent times. I was a bit disappointed that the film was directed by a man, given that it has a refreshing female point of view, but the original novel was written by a woman (Charlotte Roche), and at least one of the screenwriters was female, as well.

DISGUSTING FUNNY BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL

[Saanwithhisstupidthoughts · 7/10 · 9 June 2021]

Wetlands exceeded my expectations.

Here I was thinking in my head another borderline porno movie with no soul bad acting bad direction and weak screenplay.

But damn What I got was a refreshing tale of a girl....who ain't like anything(almost) like the teen girls you see in the western or asian or any movies.

A girl with hemmorhoids who has very disgusting habits.

But the plot deepened and offered me an almost engaging fun sexual drama that was very well acted out.

Ofc Carla Juli in her debut as Helen memel is very likeable but at the same time has very disturbing and disgusting habits.

She did a fantastic job and delivered a very energetic performance.

The supporting cast were amazing too.

The pacing was not perfect but fine.

The soundtrack were good So I won't go around writing a whole para about the whole story just wanna say that

Watch it you won't be disappointed but maybe disgusted.

This will be the movie that will define the whole "women be crazy" thing

[scarletminded · 5/10 · 28 January 2015]

My boyfriend and I saw that this movie was playing at a local theater a few weeks ago then ended up on one of our online movie services. The premise is interesting but the thing is I see that about every legit movie that explores women's sexuality in an intimate way ends up with a "women be crazy" bent. Well, I would type out the word beginning with B, but I won't. At most, this film is a punk rock gross out exercise that tries to find inner meaning, but falls flat. I have to say in its defense, it is an unique movie and even hardened art house movie fans who think they have seen it all can find something special here. By the time the lead character ripped herself open again, I guess for love, I wondered, "Why was this movie made?" I would like to see a movie with a similar theme without the female insanity. I wholeheartedly wonder if men think women are actually like this. The pizza scene too, made me laugh because it was over the top and so unnecessary but a bit funny. A few sexual fantasies and a ripped anal fissure and you can be on your way to love too, maybe.

Gross and wonderous

[BandSAboutMovies · 6/10 · 20 April 2024]

18-year-old Helen (Carla Juri) wants her parents to get back together, has a different idea of hygiene than most girls (she loves all the fluids and smells of her body, even mucus, menstrual blood and earwax) and pushes the boundaries of what most of her friends want sexually, such as going to a brothel (to be fair, her friend Corinna (Marlen Kruse) has a boyfriend that asks her to, well, give him a Cleveland Steamer).

As she shaves herself too quickly, she's cut and has to go to the hospital where she falls in love with a nurse, Robin (Christoph Letkowski) who is quite shy and has never gotten over having his heart broken by another nurse that he works with.

Directed by David Wnendt, who co-wrote the screenplay with Claus Falkenberg, based on the book by Charlotte Roche, this has a heroine who dreams of the childhood that she once lived yet every memory is horrible, such as her jumping into her mother's arms and her mother moving and telling her not to trust anyone, as well as a father who has no interest in anyone.

Obviously that's why she began sleeping with as many people as possible at the age of fifteen - no judgement - and is looking for a world to be part of. That said, to get there, you have to get past a heroine who spends the beginning credit scene playing with her hemorrhoids and then tasting her finger. And despite all that, you start to feel for her, even if she only seemingly cares about herself and hope that she can get past the life that her parents and their selfishness has doomed her to walk.

as bad as the book

[Mynameisroman · 4/10 · 10 February 2022]

If you are easily impressed by explicit language then this book or movie might be for you. But except for its very direct language to describe things about the woman body and their functions its a pretty lame story. But i remember well why i read it. Charlotte Roche was already famous and known in germany so she went to talk shows to advertise it. The book got hyped and sold well. If she wasn't famous at all i'm convinced that no one would have taken notice of that book. It was all just good advertising! And a couple of years later they made a movie about it. I watched it on free tv and like the book its boring. No real story, just a weird little woman with bad hygiene doing stuff and having an embarrassing medical emergency.