The Berlin Bride is really a work of art. There are homages to Hitchcock's most experimental moments (spiraling graphic overlays, voyeuristic and searching camera movements) and a grasp of cinema's inherent uncanniness that reminds me of Guy Maddin's films. But this dreamlike, meditative film also isn't like anything else.
The Berlin Bride is set and was mostly shot in Berlin in the 1980s, though it was more recently digitized and completed in Portland. It's about two men who, in the course of their activities around the city, come across dismembered pieces of a manequin, which initiates transformations in each of them. The film's depiction of an idyllic 1980s Berlin (featuring boutiques and green spaces, including a clothing-optional park!) and all of its appliances and fabrics on warm 16mm in itself makes watching it a pleasure.
The film is almost "silent" in the sense that it only has a few lines of dialog and instead uses an experissive musical score, sound effects, and images to tell the story. And tell the story they do. Every shot could be paused and studied for its deliberate composition in-depth and the score and rich sound effects are absorbing.
Overall, I think that viewers who enjoy cult, experimental, and queer cinema will also enjoy The Berlin Bride.
The Berlin Bride is set and was mostly shot in Berlin in the 1980s, though it was more recently digitized and completed in Portland. It's about two men who, in the course of their activities around the city, come across dismembered pieces of a manequin, which initiates transformations in each of them. The film's depiction of an idyllic 1980s Berlin (featuring boutiques and green spaces, including a clothing-optional park!) and all of its appliances and fabrics on warm 16mm in itself makes watching it a pleasure.
The film is almost "silent" in the sense that it only has a few lines of dialog and instead uses an experissive musical score, sound effects, and images to tell the story. And tell the story they do. Every shot could be paused and studied for its deliberate composition in-depth and the score and rich sound effects are absorbing.
Overall, I think that viewers who enjoy cult, experimental, and queer cinema will also enjoy The Berlin Bride.