Author Topic: Free Fall - Freier Fall  (Read 1101112 times)

Offline morrobay

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Re: Free Fall - Freier Fall
« Reply #70 on: March 26, 2014, 02:54:32 pm »
is this gorgeous or what?

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Offline morrobay

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Re: Free Fall - Freier Fall
« Reply #71 on: March 26, 2014, 03:01:16 pm »
"Do you mind if I smoke?"
"I don't care if you shoot up."

Offline CellarDweller

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Re: Free Fall - Freier Fall
« Reply #72 on: March 27, 2014, 06:31:02 am »
If this is on DVD (as Paul said)  I'll have to look into it!


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Online southendmd

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Re: Free Fall - Freier Fall
« Reply #73 on: March 27, 2014, 07:19:55 am »
Unfortunately, Netflix reports a "long wait" for Free Fall-- probably few discs and a big demand.

Offline morrobay

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Re: Free Fall - Freier Fall
« Reply #74 on: March 27, 2014, 08:22:20 am »
You can rent it on Amazon for $3.99.  I bought and downloaded it 2 days after I rented it.  If you have google chromecast or Roku you can watch it on your TV and not bother w/DVDs, or having to wait.
"Do you mind if I smoke?"
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Offline morrobay

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Re: Free Fall - Freier Fall
« Reply #75 on: March 27, 2014, 09:04:53 am »
GERMAN FILM ‘FREE FALL’ EXPLORES SEXUAL SELF-REPRESSION IN MODERN LIBERAL GERMANY, AND IS THE BEST GAY FILM TO COME TO CINEMAS SINCE ANDREW HAIGH’S ‘WEEKEND’, SAYS SIMON MERNAGH.

4.5 stars out of 5

Choosing between comfort and chaos is a central question of human existence. Are predictable lives with families, mortgages and the occasional glimmer of passion the ideal, or should we follow our more adventurous passions? Free Fall tackles that question head on, demonstrating the tragic agony of being stretched in both directions at once.

With a promising career in the police force, a baby on the way, and a fantastic haircut, Marc (Hanno Koffler) appears to have all the boxes ticked. However, the arrival of fellow trainee Kay (Max Riemelt) awakens within Marc a hitherto unknown sensation – namely, what it means to experience same-sex attraction. Torn between his burgeoning family with Bettina (Katharina Schuettler) and these newfound feelings for Kay, Marc’s comfortable life spirals into a free fall.

Director Stephan Lacant’s second feature breaks zero new artistic ground, yet treads old water with such effortless verve, grace and intelligence that any complaints of unoriginality or cliché are overridden by the sheer levels of craftsmanship on display.

Free Fall is garnering attention as the ‘German Brokeback Mountain’, but such comparisons are reductive. While both movies may revolve around the notion of forbidden gay love, Ang Lee’s 2005 film points an accusatory finger at conservative society. On the other hand, Free Fall is set in liberal, modern-day Germany, where Marc’s prejudiced co-workers are lampooned for their regressive behaviour.

Because of this, Free Fall examines the phenomenon of self-repression for the sake of perceptions of ‘normality’. Clearly interested in both men and women, Marc’s increasing discomfort with the heteronormative path he has chosen is palpable. Having moved next door to his parents’ house with his heavily pregnant girlfriend in tow, a horribly ‘comfortable’ suburban life looms on the horizon. Even mowing the lawn becomes too mundane for our poor protagonist.

The sizzling chemistry between Marc and Kay radiates through fight scenes and morning-after pillow talk alike, while Marc’s tender moments with Bettina grow progressively melancholic. Beautiful locations shot with some nifty camerawork from cinematographer, Sten Mende make Free Fall a visual treat. As with so many German movies, emotionally wrenching moments are captured matter-of-factly and without hyperbole; however, instead of feeling clinical, Lacant’s writing speaks for itself.

Although the film deals directly with the German police force, specifically a tactical riot division, obvious parallels can be drawn between the events of Free Fall and the strains of systematic homophobia which plague traditionally ‘masculine’ groups, such as the army or professional sports teams. Though Kay repeatedly (and lightheartedly) accuses Marc of being a “pussy”, Free Fall highlights this negative reaction to perceived ‘effeminacy’, which haunts so many macho institutions.

While not quite reaching the lofty heights of Andrew Haigh’s masterful Weekend, Free Fall cuts us a similarly refreshing slice of realistic gay romance. It’s a quieter, more subtle antidote to the bombastic queer stereotype all-too-often pushed to the forefront of mainstream cinema.


HTTP://THEOUTMOST.COM/ENTERTAINMENT/FILM/REVIEW-FREE-FALL/
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"I don't care if you shoot up."

Offline morrobay

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Re: Free Fall - Freier Fall
« Reply #76 on: March 27, 2014, 09:15:15 am »
I'm posting this review, even though I don't agree even with what he saw on-screen.  For example, he calls their first encounter "predatory" as Kay "chases Marc up an empty road".  It's the place they have run together before, and in the previous scene, Kay asks Marc if he's going running, but Marc declines; I assume the scene with Marc running alone and Kay "chasing" him, is the next day.


2 stars out of 5
Marc (Hanno Koffler) is happily married with a baby on the way, but is finding it difficult to get through the German police academy without getting into trouble or failing his exams (I didn't see that at all). Another cadet, Kay (Max Riemelt), offers to assist him, and the two find themselves oddly attracted to each other. It turns out that Kay is actually gay, and after a while Marc gives into his advances and the two begin an affair together. Taking place in the hyper-masculine world of the police force, as well as Marc's current relationship status, things must be kept very much on the down-low, which doesn't sit well with Kay, who wants to flaunt their new-found love proud and loud. (I disagree w/this assessment, as well.)

Hailed as 'the German Brokeback Mountain', it actually comes as a bit of a shock just how regressive Free Fall turns out to be. Yes, Kay isn't 'obviously' homosexual, and yes, there is still obviously some homophobia to be found in such forward-thinking countries such as Germany, but the character of Kay is still one of the more caricatured gay men in recent cinema.

After the initial seduction scene - which comes across quite predatory, as it involves Kay literally chasing Marc up an empty road - the homosexual character then introduces the heterosexual character to the following: house music in a speaker-thumping gay bar, recreational drugs, unprotected sex in public areas, and relationships seemingly based on nothing more than physical attraction. It’s like a checklist of cliched things that the unenlightened assume all gay people do and/or enjoy.

To the films credit, Koffler and Riemelt have some great chemistry together, and it does ALMOST ask the relevant question of whether it's possible for a straight man to fancy just one other man and continue to be considered 'not gay'. But every time the movie takes a step forward in the right direction, it takes two backwards in the wrong direction.

By no means a badly made film, just not a very interesting or intelligent one.

http://entertainment.ie/movie-review/Free-Fall/238767.htm
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"I don't care if you shoot up."

Offline Shakesthecoffecan

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Re: Free Fall - Freier Fall
« Reply #77 on: March 27, 2014, 09:20:51 am »
Wow. looks intense. I will put it on my queue as well. Thank you!
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Offline morrobay

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Re: Free Fall - Freier Fall
« Reply #78 on: March 27, 2014, 10:14:06 am »
part of a deleted scene

"Do you mind if I smoke?"
"I don't care if you shoot up."

Offline morrobay

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Re: Free Fall - Freier Fall
« Reply #79 on: March 27, 2014, 04:48:15 pm »
"Do you mind if I smoke?"
"I don't care if you shoot up."