Antares
List Price:
Our Price: $7.46
You Save: $12.45 (62%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $2.50 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD Cover Information
Actor: Andreas Patton, Dennis Cubic, Hary Prinz, Petra Morzé, Susanne WuestBrand: Repnet LLC
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); German (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 119 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-05-23
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Film Movement
Movie Reviews of Antares
Movie Review: Careful Viewing Is Rewarded
Summary: 5 Stars
Antares sounds like a reasonably normal film, the story of three couples living in a bleak apartment complex. This is far from an average normal film. This is an explicit film, not only for the intimate moments, but also in the way that people treat eachother. The director, Götz Spielmann, has sparks of Tom Tykwer in him; he plays with the timeline and three different views of events. There is an ever so slight feeling of Run Lola Run (Run Lola Run).
This film is not for everyone. The film opens with a man in the back seat of a cab looking at intimate photographs of a woman. Suddenly the cab is hit by another car and the screen goes black. We are then transported to the horribly mundane life of a very beautiful blonde wife, housewife, nurse, mother; Eva. It turns out that Eva is having an affair with another man. Early in the film there is a very intimate explicit passionate scene between Eva and her lover. There is a shocking contrast between this scene and the following dinner scene with her husband and daughter. The second act of the film, connected through scenes or events from the first act, is of an almost dead looking white, blonde woman that is a cashier at the local grocery store. The second act is about her relationship with an imigrant. The third act is again connected through scenes in the first and second acts, and is about another blonde woman living in a separate building from the first two. This story is about the abusive relationship she has with her estranged husband.
This may seem like a detailed description of the plot that might give away some secrets, however, that could not be farther from the truth. This is a multilayered plot that twists over on itself. Götz Spielmann has done a magnificant job in paiting these interesting characters, and then taken the timeline and completely thrown it out the window.
Camera work is impeccible, every shot is locked solid on a tripod. If there were handheld shots, they were smooth and unobtrusive. The choice of framing was outstanding. There is a scene on the train just after Eva's rendezvous at the hotel - Eva is staring straight ahead from the far left of the screen. The rest of the frame is an expanse of black window with faint lights going past. On closer inspection, there is the reflection of another couple in the train, with the man on top of the woman, both are fully clothed, but they are clearly having sex. We hear him say, should we go to your apartment? It's this type of framing and details that are spread throughout the film.
If there is one complaint about this film, it's the last 5 minutes. Somehow the director lost his way to closing the film. There is a sort of epilog after the third act is resolved. The film meanders around a little bit trying to find the finish. The director does finally find his way, and the final scene is just about right.
The film is not rated by the MPAA, it did achieve and R rating in Canada. This is on the upper end of an R rating, almost to the NC-17 territory. The opening act is the most graphic of scenes. There is both male and female full nudity in this film. This is nowhere near the pronography area at all. Language is not particularly strong. And there is very little violence. However, the film is definately a very mature film.
Another fabulous film brought to the US by Film Movements. This is a series to watch if you love independent and often times foreign film. Antares is an intense, explicit film that is very rewarding. If you loved this film, another film in this series that is just as wonderful, Fraulein.
Summary of Antares
Antares tells three stories of passion jealously, routine and violence. Love is the cause of, and driving force behind the character's emotional and physical experiences. This film also tells us what this fundamental energy of life brings about and how it leads to human action or suffering. And finally, what it is capable of triggering in the way of longing and destruction, tenderness, fear, loneliness and courage.Alex and Nicole are divorced but Alex cannot let go of what has passed. Sonja is facing tough times because of her pregnancy and becoming wildly jealous of her husband Marco. While Eva, a loyal wife and mother, has her life turned upside-down by a fling with Tomasz. They all live in the same impersonal housing estate, emotionally messy individuals within a uniform concrete façade.
Antares features explicit sexual content and mature themes in its portrayal of these modern relationships.