The Decade List: Bungalow (2002)

Bungalow – dir. Ulrich Köhler

Through Germany’s illustrious cinematic history, one marked by soaring heights and long absences (we all know why), the country went through one of those droughts following the “New German Cinema” period during the ‘60s and ‘70s, though some of its key figures (Werner Herzog, Jean-Marie Straub, Werner Schroeter) are still making great films (Wim Wenders and Volker Schlondörff released a couple of great films after that period, though their recent output isn’t very noteworthy). In the ‘00s, a new breed of young German filmmakers emerged, known as the “Berlin School.” While the term doesn’t resonate with anyone other than cinephiles, it’s what’s returning the country to its heritage of artful cinema.

Ulrich Köhler’s Bungalow isn’t regarded as the touchstone of the Berlin School (you’d have to ask someone better acquainted with the movement if there in fact is one), but it stands as a remarkable exemplar of such, far removed from the national mainstream (Downfall, The Lives of Others, The Baader Meinhof Complex) that’s still unable to address much outside of its own past. In Bungalow, teenage solider Paul (Lennie Burmeister) goes AWOL and retreats to his parents’ home in Marburg-Lahn. His solitude at the house (his parents are on holiday) is unexpectedly interrupted by the arrival of his brother Max (Devid Striesow) and his new girlfriend Lene (Trine Dyrholm), a beautiful Danish actress working on a B-movie in Germany.

Bungalow is a striking, understated account of Paul, whose extreme awkwardness feels at odds with the fact that he’s modestly handsome. His interactions with Max haven’t developed beyond childlike horseplay and the cruel exchange of insults that only ever seem acceptable between family members. Though certain actions, like dispassionately playing with himself and trying on Lene’s bathing suit when she’s not around, stem from Paul’s truancy, all of his interpersonal interactions are incredibly unhealthy. He unconsciously sabotages each of them with an immature arrogance, something that also brings forth a number of uncomfortably candid remarks in the presence of others.

Köhler never suggests what the source of Paul’s unfortunate characteristics, which reach deeper than the usual tribulations of growing up, might be. Is the military responsible? His parents? Society? Paul’s departure from his squadron isn’t a premeditated act, and we’re never quite sure why he continues to avoid going back, as the life he’s returned to has only inspired apathetic inertia. Bungalow is a cryptic, deceptively sedate observation of wayward youth and a fine introduction to the exciting films of the Berlin School.

With: Lennie Burmeister, Devid Striesow, Trine Dyrholm, Nicole Gläser, Jörg Malchow, Lou Castel, Helke Sander
Screenplay: Henrike Goetz, Ulrich Köhler
Cinematography: Ute Freund
Country of Origin: Germany
US Distributor: Facets

Premiere: 7 February 2002 (Berlin International Film Festival)
US Premiere: 24 May 2002 (Seattle International Film Festival)

Awards: Silver Alexander – Ulrich Köhler (Thessaloniki Film Festival)

Meat Is Murder

Shotgun Stories - dir. Jeff Nichols - 2007 - USA

Like a gothic Midwestern Greek tragedy, Shotgun Stories unflinchingly looks at the family rivalry between seven men of the same father, separated by their father's ignorance toward the eldest three, who are conveniently named Boy, Kid, and Son. Michael Shannon (Bug) is remarkably good as the eldest of the first three, and even if the film sometimes goes where you expect it to in terms of plot, it's still rather remarkable in tone. Co-produced by David Gordon Green.

Bungalow - dir. Ulrich Köhler - 2002 - Germany

The aimlessness of youth has always been a cinematic obsession of mine, and Bungalow, from first-time director Köhler, is a fine addition to said sub-genre. Paul (Lennie Burmeister) goes AWOL from the military (out of boredom, we're lead to believe), only to spend two mundane days avoiding the military police, fighting with his older brother (David Striestow) and sort-of girlfriend (Nicole Glaser), flirting with his brother's Danish girlfriend (Trine Dyrholm of The Celebration), and doing a lot of swimming. Bungalow is constantly unassuming and keeps Paul's ambition and desires at an enigmatic distance, making his every move that much more fascinating. Köhler directs Burmeister with minimal emotion all to the film's benefit.

Mad Cowgirl - dir. Gregory Hatanaka - 2006 - USA

Whew. There's a lot to say about Mad Cowgirl, a black comedy/satire/slasher/martial arts film about a woman (Sarah Lassez of Nowhere and The Blackout) who works as a meat inspector and develops a lethal brain tumor, which may or may not have been caused by her meat consumption. This tumor spirals her into obsession with a kung-fu actress, a seedy sexual affair with her brother (James Duval), tormenting her former lover, a priest (Walter Koening), and going on some sort of killing spree. I refer back to the kitchen sink reference, as Mad Cowgirl really has it all, and some of it's dull, some of it's not. I can't fault it's ambition, or Lassez's strange performance, nor can I scream its praises... however, I can't resist applauding it for, at least moderately, succeeding in all its excess and blasphemy. You might also note that Lassez and Duval are joined in the cast by Devon Odessa and Jaason Simmons, all four of which starred in Gregg Araki's Nowhere. Hmm. If you get inspired to see Hatanaka's other films afterward, I can safely tell you to avoid Until the Night, which stars fellow Nowhere alum Kathleen Robertson, as well as Sean Young and (gag) Norman Reedus.

Summer Palace - dir. Ye Lou - 2006 - China/France

Oh, the sexual awakening of college. Summer Palace follows Yu Hong (Lei Hao) as she enters university in Beijing, starts fucking around with boys, writes in her journal and witnesses the massacre of Tiananmen Square. Director Ye Lou (Purple Butterfly, Suzhou River) paints Summer Palace like a dream, swirling and drifting as youth, but when the film ends up continuing for another hour and a half, it perhaps looses some of its merit. Instead of focusing simply on a young girl's sexual and political awakening, Lou spreads the film over the course of her young adulthood as well. As for the sex, I never thought I'd say so, but the prevalence of so many couplings so many times actually begins to wear. It's not a film with something intellectual to say about sex as much as it is how sex shapes the people, so in seeing the act so frequently, we might be lead to believe that they only exist in the film for shock value (which caused the film to be banned in China).