Alpis

Yorgos Lanthimos

IndieLisboa 2012 •

Greece, France, Fiction, 2011, 93'′

Alps is the name of a company that its employees are taking the place of recently deceased in the way that their relatives cope easily with the sudden loss. In the film’s primary logic, the characters turning into dead people is absurd. The absurdity and irrationality within human existence is the main concern of the auteur, Yorgos Lanthimos (director of Dogtooth) expressed in a brilliant manner. Bringing in mind on the theatre of the absurd, the characters keep rehearsing their parts building a metaphor based on humor and surprise. Characters argue using false logic to convince themselves and others as if little by little they are turning into Rhinokeros. However there is one member of the company desperate to maintain her individuality thus humanity. The athlete of rhythmic gymnastics as a current Beranger refuses to become Rhinoceros just because she wants to dance pop, signifing the existence of life. (Nina Veligradi)