- BERLINALE 2021: TIDES Comes After Hell [Trailer]
- EIFF 2019: ANIARA is a Deeply Haunting Sci-Fi Experience [Review]
- Darkstar Pictures Announces Free Online Film Festival!
- Stunning First Look at Indie Fantasy THE WANTING MARE [Trailer]
- Stunning First Look at Indie Fantasy THE WANTING MARE [Trailer]
- Stunning First Look at Indie Fantasy THE WANTING MARE [Trailer]
- SKYLINES Is Coming! [Poster Premiere]
- Who Hunts Who in HUNTER HUNTER? [Trailer]
- MONSTER HUNTER Coming for Christmas [Trailer]
- Saskatoon Fantastic Film Festival Returns with In-Person Event [Line Up]
- Re: Occupation, Australian Sci Fi movie
- Slice of Life, Blade Runner inspired short
- Is Snowpeircer a sequel to Willy Wonka?
- Re: Yesterday
- Re: Yesterday
- Yesterday
- Re: White Night (or where do I get my 30 + from now?)
- Re: White Night (or where do I get my 30 + from now?)
- Re: White Night (or where do I get my 30 + from now?)
- Re: White Night (or where do I get my 30 + from now?)
- BERLINALE 2021: TIDES Comes After Hell [Trailer]
- LUNATIQUE Director Returns with WASTELAND 3 Promo [Short Film]
- A Comet Destoys Earth in GREENLAND Trailer
- Interactive WAR OF THE WORLDS Adaptation Out Now!
- 8K Trailer for Train to Busan Sequel PENINSULA Drops Hard!
- Making a Bomb Shelter in a Funhouse is a Bad Idea in IMPACT EVENT [Trailer]
- Retro Slave: FOX's Post-Apocalyptic Sitcom WOOPS!
- TRAIN TO BUSAN Sequel PENINSULA Gets a Teaser Trailer
- New on Blu-ray and DVD for March 11, 2020
- The Apocalypse Kills Women in ONLY [Trailer]
- Trailer for TheWalking Dead: World Beyond Spin-Off Series
- SATOR is a Welcome Addition to the Folk Horror Canon [Review]
- Women in Horror Month: NEAR DARK
- SOUTHLAND TALES: The Cannes Cut [Review]
- A Woman's Mind Unravels in BIGHT HILL ROAD [Review]
- TIFF 2020: Vanlife Gets a Reality Check in NOMADLAND [Review]
- TIFF 2020: APPLES, THE WAY I SEE IT, PIECES OF A WOMAN & ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI [Capsule Reviews]
- TIFF 2020: The Truth Tellers Return with THE NEW CORPORATION: THE UNFORTUNATELY NECESSARY SEQUEL [Review]
- TIFF 2020: NEW ORDER is Brutal, Violent & a Must-See [Review]
- TIFF 2020: ENEMIES OF THE STATE, Or Are They? [Review]
- TIFF 2020: HOLLER Explores Life in a Dying Town [Review]
- 2067 Director Talks Inspiration, Environment & Time Travel [Interview]
- THE STRANGERS Director Returns with THE DARK AND THE WICKED [Trailer]
- Michael Shannon is Crime Boss in ECHO BOOMERS [Trailer]
- Hair Extensions Get Horrific in BAD HAIR [Trailer]
- TIFF 2020: Vanlife Gets a Reality Check in NOMADLAND [Review]
- VIFF 2020: Sobriety, Reintegration & Telekinesis Come Together in THE CURSE OF WILLOW SONG [Interview]
- VIFF 2020: Revenge Thriller Re-Examined in VIOLATION [Interview]
- VIFF2020: Director Loretta Todd on the Making of Her Debut Feature MONKEY BEACH [Interview]
- TIFF 2020: APPLES, THE WAY I SEE IT, PIECES OF A WOMAN & ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI [Capsule Reviews]
- TIFF 2020: The Truth Tellers Return with THE NEW CORPORATION: THE UNFORTUNATELY NECESSARY SEQUEL [Review]
- TIFF 2020: NEW ORDER is Brutal, Violent & a Must-See [Review]
- TIFF 2020: ENEMIES OF THE STATE, Or Are They? [Review]
- NO ESCAPE Director Talks Influencers, Escape Rooms & Writing [Interview]
- TIFF 2020: HOLLER Explores Life in a Dying Town [Review]
- The Funny Side of Alien Invasions: You have to SAVE YOURSELVES! [Trailer]
- Kodi Smit-McPhee Goes to the Future to Save the Present in 2067 [Trailer]
- First Look at Denis Villeneuve's DUNE [Trailer]
- Fantasia 2020: LAPSIS, THE COLUMNIST, MINOR PREMISE, FEELS GOOD MAN & HAIL TO THE DEADITES [Capsule Reviews]
- BUNRAKU Writer/Director Returns with LX 2048 [Trailer]
- BLOOD QUANTUM Writer/Director Talks Inspiration, Zombies & Representation [Interview]
Jack In
Latest Comments
Latest Forum Posts
PA News
Latest Reviews
Older News
Crew
Marina Antunes
Editor in Chief
Vancouver, British Columbia
Christopher Webster
Managing Editor
Edmonton, Alberta
DN aka quietearth
Founder / Asst. Managing Editor
Denver, Colorado
Simon Read
UK Correspondent
Edinburgh, Scotland
Rick McGrath
Toronto Correspondent
Toronto, Ontario
Manuel de Layet
France Correspondent
Paris, France
rochefort
Austin Correspondent
Austin, Texas
Daniel Olmos
Corrispondente in Italia
Italy
Griffith Maloney aka Griffith Maloney
New York Correspondent
New York, NY
Stephanie O
Floating Correspondent
Quiet Earth Bunker
Jason Widgington
Montreal Correspondent
Montreal, Quebec
Carlos Prime
Austin Correspondent
Austin, TX
Latest news







Year: 2009
Directors: Thomas Sieben
Writers: Thomas Sieben & Christian Lyre
IMDB: link
Trailer: link
Review by: projectcyclops
Rating: 6 out of 10
Thomas Sieben's Distanz is a curious, stylish and enigmatic little film, about a quiet gardener called Daniel Bauer, who can't seem to shake the nasty habit he has for casual murder in his local park. The film begins with a montage of Bauer's daily routine at the botanical gardens where he works, we see him raking leaves and hosing down his tools, before heading to the park after work to lie in the sun and enjoy some peace, away from his demanding boss and the pretty secretary who makes eyes at him. Later that night he plays games on the bridge over a motorway, dropping stones onto the cars that pass below, which is our first hint that he's anything other than a shy loner.
Thing is, Bauer isn't a happy person. He sits alone in his flat, which is sparsely furnished and has no pictures or photos; no signs of personality other than the borrowed book about Tuscany, which he eagerly flips through. His life is repetitive, he's never had a girlfriend and he eats, sleeps and dreams of getting away. When his boss makes fun of him, he lashes out against other people, and those little stones he drops onto the cars soon graduate into very large rocks, which cause massive fatalities that he all but ignores, on hearing them reported on the radio the next morning. During a walk in the woods Bauer spots a hunting party and witnesses the shooting of a fox, he seems to take the animal's death personally and, after following the group to a hotel, he breaks into the back of their jeep and steals a rifle. Now Bauer's armed, there's no stopping him.
I love films about demented individuals, taking things into their own hands and getting revenge on an unfair society or hurtful colleagues. Who out there hasn't casually dreamed of blowing the head off their asshole boss; getting one back on the unfaithful lover or that backstabbing friend? We've all had these dark thoughts and filed them neatly under, 'Do not tell anyone you're this weird', or maybe it's just me... But regardless, there is a lot of voyeuristic fun to be had in viewing on-screen what people usually repress in real life. Bauer may choose his targets at random, but it's the act in itself which satisfies him, the release seems to work like the fix of a drug, he's okay for a while afterwards and the whole thing, while shocking to us, is as simple as a cigarette break for him. Neat and ordered, nothing personal.
That's the strong point for Distanz; it's a clever and generally well crafted look at one mans insanity, and the woman who naively tries to help him. However, there are serious shortfalls in depth and characterisation in the film. We know nothing of Daniel; where he comes from, where he's going, or what really drives him to these acts of madness. The dialogue is as sparse as his home, a deliberate move, I think, to keep intentions either mysterious or staunchly unimportant to the plot. Case in point; during several scenes which might have heralded exposition, the volume of the speech is turned down in favour of the rising, haunting score, and we're left to guess what Daniel and his new girlfriend Jana might be saying to one another during dinner, or what the boss really thinks of him while bitching behind his back. All this makes the film rather difficult to really enjoy. I'm happy to admit that it's slick, cool and detached, very much For Your Consideration, but it's not a film I'd personally root for. I don't like Daniel; I think he's selfish and his actions pointless. I see Jana in much the same light, and indeed their cruel boss Christian, who's sadly underused. Perhaps it's the 80 minute running time, but I feel the glimpse into these characters' world that we are afforded is not enough to connect with them and to create believable, explainable personalities, that we can grow to sympathise with and understand their motivations. Why, for instance, does Jana stay with him even after his secret is revealed? Why is Christian so defiantly horrible to him? Why is he doing what he's doing? When the blood flows and the gun-shots ring out, we need a little more understanding of the why's and the what for's.
Ultimately, Psycho Killer films really need an element of sympathy to work on a human level, otherwise they do sail close to the shores of nihilism and gratuitousness. I liked Patrick Bateman in American Psycho because he was funny and well rounded, and he took revenge on worthy people like Paul Allen. I engaged with the villainous Chris Wilton in Woody Allen's Match Point, because he had a mind blowing decision to make, and to carry through until the bitter end. I loved Gerard Johnson's psycho creation 'Tony', because he was so fragile and human, yet so demented and twisted. Daniel Bauer, in comparison, is just a lonely monster who deserves what he gets, but maybe that's the point?
You might also like








Kalle (10 years ago) Reply
Very good review. You nailed it with that final paragraph.