Toronto International Film Festival
TORONTO -- That oft-revisited theme of alienation, German-style, is given a unique spin in Living Films' "Identity Kills", a movie combining docudrama and thriller elements with interesting, if mixed, results.
A second feature by writer-director Soren Voigt, the story of a young woman's unsuccessful re-entry into society after being released from a psychiatric hospital takes a little while to engage the viewer, but once the Patricia Highsmith-type thriller aspect kicks in, the balance turns out to be quite watchable.
Resembling a young Isabelle Huppert (in the type of offbeat role that could easily fit into her resume), Brigitte Hobmeier is the troubled Karen, who has returned to her Berlin apartment to discover that her carousing boyfriend (Daniel Lommatzsch) has moved his ex-girlfriend into the place.
Determined to start making positive changes in her life, she gets a job at a factory that manufactures cutlery with the intention of eventually forking over enough savings to take a dream trip to the Caribbean.
As fate would have it, one day Karen is mistaken by resort manager Mr. Sanchez (Antonio Sanchez-Camera) for another young woman (Mareike Alscher) who has applied for a job at his Caribbean hotel. Karen quickly becomes obsessed with her, to the point of posing as Sanchez's assistant with the ultimate intention of fully assuming the woman's identity.
Voigt, who developed his screenplay through improvised scenes with his cast of professional and nonprofessional actors, delivers a picture that lacks the artistic polish of conventional thrillers, but in exchange, there's a random aspect to Karen's behavior that makes her closing-act behavior all the more unexpected.
TORONTO -- That oft-revisited theme of alienation, German-style, is given a unique spin in Living Films' "Identity Kills", a movie combining docudrama and thriller elements with interesting, if mixed, results.
A second feature by writer-director Soren Voigt, the story of a young woman's unsuccessful re-entry into society after being released from a psychiatric hospital takes a little while to engage the viewer, but once the Patricia Highsmith-type thriller aspect kicks in, the balance turns out to be quite watchable.
Resembling a young Isabelle Huppert (in the type of offbeat role that could easily fit into her resume), Brigitte Hobmeier is the troubled Karen, who has returned to her Berlin apartment to discover that her carousing boyfriend (Daniel Lommatzsch) has moved his ex-girlfriend into the place.
Determined to start making positive changes in her life, she gets a job at a factory that manufactures cutlery with the intention of eventually forking over enough savings to take a dream trip to the Caribbean.
As fate would have it, one day Karen is mistaken by resort manager Mr. Sanchez (Antonio Sanchez-Camera) for another young woman (Mareike Alscher) who has applied for a job at his Caribbean hotel. Karen quickly becomes obsessed with her, to the point of posing as Sanchez's assistant with the ultimate intention of fully assuming the woman's identity.
Voigt, who developed his screenplay through improvised scenes with his cast of professional and nonprofessional actors, delivers a picture that lacks the artistic polish of conventional thrillers, but in exchange, there's a random aspect to Karen's behavior that makes her closing-act behavior all the more unexpected.
Toronto International Film Festival
TORONTO -- That oft-revisited theme of alienation, German-style, is given a unique spin in Living Films' "Identity Kills", a movie combining docudrama and thriller elements with interesting, if mixed, results.
A second feature by writer-director Soren Voigt, the story of a young woman's unsuccessful re-entry into society after being released from a psychiatric hospital takes a little while to engage the viewer, but once the Patricia Highsmith-type thriller aspect kicks in, the balance turns out to be quite watchable.
Resembling a young Isabelle Huppert (in the type of offbeat role that could easily fit into her resume), Brigitte Hobmeier is the troubled Karen, who has returned to her Berlin apartment to discover that her carousing boyfriend (Daniel Lommatzsch) has moved his ex-girlfriend into the place.
Determined to start making positive changes in her life, she gets a job at a factory that manufactures cutlery with the intention of eventually forking over enough savings to take a dream trip to the Caribbean.
As fate would have it, one day Karen is mistaken by resort manager Mr. Sanchez (Antonio Sanchez-Camera) for another young woman (Mareike Alscher) who has applied for a job at his Caribbean hotel. Karen quickly becomes obsessed with her, to the point of posing as Sanchez's assistant with the ultimate intention of fully assuming the woman's identity.
Voigt, who developed his screenplay through improvised scenes with his cast of professional and nonprofessional actors, delivers a picture that lacks the artistic polish of conventional thrillers, but in exchange, there's a random aspect to Karen's behavior that makes her closing-act behavior all the more unexpected.
TORONTO -- That oft-revisited theme of alienation, German-style, is given a unique spin in Living Films' "Identity Kills", a movie combining docudrama and thriller elements with interesting, if mixed, results.
A second feature by writer-director Soren Voigt, the story of a young woman's unsuccessful re-entry into society after being released from a psychiatric hospital takes a little while to engage the viewer, but once the Patricia Highsmith-type thriller aspect kicks in, the balance turns out to be quite watchable.
Resembling a young Isabelle Huppert (in the type of offbeat role that could easily fit into her resume), Brigitte Hobmeier is the troubled Karen, who has returned to her Berlin apartment to discover that her carousing boyfriend (Daniel Lommatzsch) has moved his ex-girlfriend into the place.
Determined to start making positive changes in her life, she gets a job at a factory that manufactures cutlery with the intention of eventually forking over enough savings to take a dream trip to the Caribbean.
As fate would have it, one day Karen is mistaken by resort manager Mr. Sanchez (Antonio Sanchez-Camera) for another young woman (Mareike Alscher) who has applied for a job at his Caribbean hotel. Karen quickly becomes obsessed with her, to the point of posing as Sanchez's assistant with the ultimate intention of fully assuming the woman's identity.
Voigt, who developed his screenplay through improvised scenes with his cast of professional and nonprofessional actors, delivers a picture that lacks the artistic polish of conventional thrillers, but in exchange, there's a random aspect to Karen's behavior that makes her closing-act behavior all the more unexpected.
- 9/23/2003
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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