Paradies: Liebe

The first film in a trilogy that is, one might say, about love. Desperate in Love, obsessive, in Faith, naive, in Hope. The three parts have other connecting elements. Not just the three protagonists, the family tie, but the same caustic sense that comes from Seidl’s previous filmmaking, the same pleasure to operate on the grotesque mercilessly. Teresa wants to be looked in the eye while being touched and forget that she does this in exchange for thousands of shillings just steps away from a Kenyan resort. On the beach, the geometric shots divide tourists and locals, like a rope that separates territories and that few dare to cross. Somewhere between flesh and colors, Seidl positions the hunting game and enjoys changing its direction whenever he pleases. (M. M.)