★★☆☆☆
9 September 2018
A movie review of 303. |
“The question is what advances mankind more: Competition or cooperation?” Jule (Mala Emde)
THE EDUKATORS (2004), starring Daniel Brühl and Julia Jentsch, is one of my favourite German films of all time. It was political and idealistic, and charismatic. Thus, with great anticipation I looked out for films from director Hans Weingartner. Not until now have I managed to catch a second, and it is a disappointment. 303’s philosophical and political discussions work. A shame about the rest. The plot is hackneyed and ill-thought-out. And there is no need for this to be 144 minutes. We should not want a road trip movie to end. Here, time drags.
THE EDUKATORS (2004), starring Daniel Brühl and Julia Jentsch, is one of my favourite German films of all time. It was political and idealistic, and charismatic. Thus, with great anticipation I looked out for films from director Hans Weingartner. Not until now have I managed to catch a second, and it is a disappointment. 303’s philosophical and political discussions work. A shame about the rest. The plot is hackneyed and ill-thought-out. And there is no need for this to be 144 minutes. We should not want a road trip movie to end. Here, time drags.
It is so important to be attuned to the world. The rise of the right, economically and politically, since the end of the 1970s, has seen much of the world’s wealth concentrated in a few hands, while minorities are scapegoated. Greed is winning. The weakest and most vulnerable in society are not causing it. Too few films, aimed at as wide an audience as possible, are analysing this predicament. That is why 303’s ambitions are so welcome.
Opening on a Rilke quote shows the high-mindedness of 303. Cutesy names of the leads, J and J are university students. Jule (Mala Emde) bottles her biology exam. Jan (Anton Spieker) studying political science needs a scholarship because he is struggling with money. The latter teaches karate. You know he’s going to use it later. It is contrived (as with too much of the movie) how they meet and end up travelling together in Jule’s 303 camper van.
Immediately, they quickly fall out and go their separate ways. At night, Jule lets a random guy into the camper. The audience is screaming no. He attempts to rape her. Jan just happens to be at the right place and at the right time to intervene. They let the assaulter get away, and don’t report it. WTF? On several levels. Firstly, this guy is free to do it again. Is the film assuming the perpetrator will think twice? Secondly, like a regressive fairy tale, where the prince saves the princess, Jan arrives to rescue Jule. This scene is a disaster, and the film never recovers.
There are further narrative clangers along the way. 303 is not even close to being in the same league as BEFORE SUNRISE: The benchmark of two 20-somethings falling in love while travelling. We enjoy the company of Céline (Julie Delpy) and Jesse (Ethan Hawke), because they are so articulate and there is little dead air. The greatest rom-coms ever made, such as THE PHILADELPHIA STORY (1940) and GROSSE POINTE BLANK (1997), are breathless in their dialogue delivery. Romantic cinema should strive for their repartee. Maybe if 303 was re-edited it could be significantly enhanced?