By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Ulrich Seidl
Starring: Gabriel Mwarua | Helen Brugat | Inge Maux | Margarete Teisel | Peter Kazungu
Original language title: Paradise: Liebe
Country: austria, france, germany
Year: 2013
Running time: 120
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1403214/
Bruce says: “Ulrich Seidl has stirred up a controversy or two with his films IMPORT/EXPORT and PARADISE: LOVE. To understand the fuss it is important to see the film, at least that is the case for PARADISE: LOVE that begins as a light comedy and ends up in a very dark place.
“Teresa (Margarete Teisel) is a single mom with a daughter that cares not a whit about her mother. Somewhat the paradox, Teresa displays her sunny disposition one moment then lashes out in the ugliest of fashion when she is displeased. As PARADISE: LOVE begins Teresa is trying her best to motivate the teenager to pack her bags. We assume they are going off together, which is a mistake. Teresa is going off to vacation in Kenya and dropping the girl off with a relative, along with the cat. At first I was concerned that the daughter was staying behind; now that I have seen the film though the end, I am greatly relieved the daughter and cat have been spared the experience.
“Next seen Teresa is on a jitney labeled ‘Comfort Safari’ on her way to Flamingo Beach. When her friend says ‘You have to smell their skin,’ it is immediately obvious these women are not in Kenya for sun and sand. They aim to get laid. Getting laid, as it turns out, is Teresa’s secondary objective. She wants love. It is difficult to imagine a less appropriate setting for a woman to meet such a goal. On the first day, her friend fixes Teresa up with a buddy of her ‘regular’ man. When Teresa gets to his room, she says ‘I can’t do this.’
“The beach is roped off so the local men stand and wait for the women at the resort to come to them. They all have wares to sell but their bodies are the actual merchandise. Teresa ventures beyond the ropes on the second day and meets Munga (Peter Kazungu), a handsome and charming man. He takes her home. She is embarrassed to take off her clothes for she is more than a bit on the heavy side. Her breasts are large but definitely sagging. After sex it doesn’t take Teresa long to ask, ‘How many women have you brought here?’ ‘Only you,’ Munga replies. ‘Love has no end,’ Munga tells her. ‘Love isn’t always forever in Europe,’ she confides. On the second or third day Munga asks Teresa for money. And so it goes every day thereafter. Everyone in his family has met with misfortune – his cousin, his sister, his nephew, and his father. Munga introduces Teresa to his sister and nephew. When Teresa sees Munga on the public beach a couple of days later hand-in-hand and kissing his sister, Teresa finally gets the message.
“On her birthday several of the women decide to hire a young boy to spice up the birthday party. The women have him strip and order him to do all sorts of things. Their language is appalling as they attempt to demean him in every possible way. Suddenly the truth emerges. Perhaps it is not love these women are seeking; perhaps they want to exert their power over others and in Kenya the best way to do what is through sex. As the women grovel, naked on the bed with the young man, it appears that, given the chance, some women can behave as badly as the male counterparts they so disdain.
“Parallels to HEADING SOUTH, the Laurence Cantet film about women who go to the Caribbean in pursuit of sex, are obvious, but PARADISE: LOVE has a much more jaundiced view. Hats off to Margarete Teisel who delivers a very gutsy and vulnerable performance. 4 cats
“(PARADISE: LOVE screened at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival. It appears to be the first film in a PARADISE trilogy.)”