Drehbuch:
Mike MillsKamera:
Kasper TuxenBesetzung:
Ewan McGregor, Christopher Plummer, Mélanie Laurent, Goran Visnjic, Mary Page Keller, China Jesusita Shavers, Lou Taylor Pucci, Melissa Tang (mehr)Streaming (4)
Inhalte(1)
Der Grafikdesigner Oliver wird nach dem Tod seines Vaters Hal völlig aus der Bahn geworfen. Als er die franzöische Schauspielerin Anna kennen lernt, fasst er jedoch neuen Lebensmut. Er erinnert sich an die Zeit, die er mit seinem Vater seit dessen Krebsdiagnose intensiv verbracht hat. Der verwitwete 75-jährige Hal hat seinen Sohn damals mit seinem Outing überrascht. Nach 44 Ehejahren beschloss er, seine Homosexualität offen auszuleben. Hal, Oliver und Anna - alle drei wagen in Sachen Liebe einen absoluten Neubeginn. (ORF)
(mehr)Kritiken (5)
“It’s very easy to end up alone.” Even banalities can be touching if they’re delivered with feeling. Beginners, an Freudian interior tragicomedy, seems fresh despite not offering anything radically new in terms of form or content. The fragmentation of the cyclical narrative, depicting life experience in the post-modern age without a beginning or end, and the absence of greater drama and lesser conflict distinguish the film from more straightforward relationship dramas with a clear goal (as does the “indie” look with melancholic autumnal colours). The relationships between the characters are not conceived in a trivial manner. The only thing that’s regrettable about the film, though understandable given the autobiographical nature of the script, is the focusing of all attention on Oliver. The others – his father, his mother, his new girlfriend and his father’s lover – thus serve only as the key to understanding his personality, by himself and by us. The possibility, or rather capability of self-expression is the film’s central theme, from which Mills takes a slight, fidgety (of course, in accordance with the chosen form of the narrative) detour into politics, civic engagement and old films. After the death of his father, who for a long time could not give expression to his homosexuality, Oliver withdraws into himself instead of letting the world know that he is here, that he is lonely (because of his nature), sad (because of the past and memories) and filled with worry (because of the future). Unlike the gay men whose voices were silenced for decades, the only thing that stops him from screaming is his own inability to accept the change in his life brought about by his father’s death. He is drawn back into the world of talking (i.e. not canine) heads by – psychoanalysts, take note – a girl without a voice, disguised as a man when they first meet (or she is at first just a substitute for Oliver’s father, filling the empty space). Anna and Oliver’s outwardly simple and ordinary coming together uses a number of romantic clichés that involve breaking up and making up and, in light of the doubly irrational relationship between Oliver’s mother and father, raise questions that don’t come up in an ordinary romance. For example, the most basic question – why do two people stay together? On the relationship level, it’s obvious how personal a film Beginners is for Mills. The crucial word is “sensitivity” and the actors give it meaning. Ewan McGregor, whose restrained speech corresponds superbly to Oliver’s state of mind, for once falls under the suspicion that he is playing his part under the influence of Valium. The veteran actor Christopher Plummer, who enjoys his role as an “old queer” as much as Mélanie Laurent relishes her role as a charming protector, about whom you can know everything and she will still give the impression of being mysterious. She is thus a bit like a being from another world, outwardly unburdened by any serious concerns, but again that slightly buck-passing excuse comes up – Anna serves exclusively for the protagonist to find himself, so a more thorough depiction of her is not desirable. Beginners managed to avoid that stupidly optimistic, everything’s-going-to-be-okay, everyone-is-happy feeling and yet, despite a certain unevenness, it leaves you with a thoroughly pleasant feeling. A feeling that you don’t have to be ashamed of. 80%
()
(weniger)
(mehr)
Auf den ersten Blick hat Beginners ein sehr attraktives Thema und eine äußerst sympathische Besetzung - umso enttäuschender ist es, wie flach und nutzlos der Film behandelt wird, er ist weder Fisch noch Fleisch und gleitet an der Oberfläche dahin. Es gibt in dem Streifen mehrere Handlungsstränge und Themen - zwischenmenschliche und generationenübergreifende Beziehungen, die Frage des Todes, sexuelle Minderheiten, die Suche nach der eigenen Identität -, aber keines davon war stark genug, um mich zu fesseln und meine Wahrnehmung zu bewegen. Ich muss also sagen, dass ich wirklich enttäuscht war, was weder durch den niedlichen Jack Russell noch durch Christopher Plummers oscarreife Leistung verbessert wurde.
()
Everybody lives, everybody suffers, everybody dies. A classic tough-minded indie with a classic tough-minded protagonist. He should carry a ball.
()
Mélanie Laurent gave a very decent performance especially considering the fact that there was practically no plot. I had the impression that I wasn't watching a film, but a sad lyrical poem. My problem is, although I like literature, I’m not that into poems, especially lyrical ones, hence the two stars.
()
I have to say that when I watched the movie, I thought that a much more fitting title would be "Beginnings", or in Czech, "Začátky". I didn't know that the film was actually called that in Czech. I'm more familiar with how movies are titled in English, not Czech. I then came to the conclusion that the distribution company actually did think about the Czech title this time. A pleasant exception. Speaking of what's pleasing, besides the Czech title, it's the performances by the actors. It's a concert of three people - Ewan McGregor, Mélanie Laurent, and of course Christopher Plummer. I said that the soon to be eighty-three-year-old gentleman deserved the Golden statue for what he showed. He surprised me incredibly. He played a father who, at his blessed age, revealed to his son that he is gay, and had been his whole life, which he spent hiding the fact from his son's mother, his wife. The son is not shaken by it as much, but it's still a strong surprise. But the father goes further, he no longer wants to hide, he wants to be gay in practice. His wife has passed away, and he can now be truthful. He finds a forty-year-old lover, kisses him, holds his hand, loves him. It's evident on him. Plummer played a gay man incredibly convincingly at his age, I wish him the award, he deserves it. To get back to the movie. It's about beginnings. At the age of eighty, the father discovers what it's like to finally love someone differently than how society expresses it. His son, on the other hand, discovers what it's really like to love, his past relationships never lasted, as if he was afraid. His new partner is in the same situation. The film is filled with interesting passages, which are a series of photographs that are supposed to describe the period commented on by the main character. An interesting and original solution that complements the hero's introversion, who is focused on individual moments - he is a comic book artist. A pleasant film, definitely. More: http://www.filmovy-denik.cz/2012/09/rebelka-perfect-sense-sprosty-holky.html
()