How entertaining? ★★★☆☆
Thought provoking? ★★★☆☆ 10 July 2015
This a movie review of DORA OR THE SEXUAL NEUROSES OF OUR PARENTS.Seen as part of the East End Film Festival 2015. For more information, click here.
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“I don’t want to be handicapped” Dora (Victoria Schulz)
There is a frankness here, about sex, that is blush-inducing without salaciousness, thanks to the intelligence and nuance brought to the film. Societal hang-ups and decorum often prevent an open discussion of sexuality. Shame is not on the agenda here – desire, love, lust, jealousy, possessiveness are. Advertising and pornography can have an unhealthy skewing of our wants and perceptions, just as much as conservative mores; it is thus refreshing to see a movie aim to tackle an aspect of burgeoning sexuality.
There is a frankness here, about sex, that is blush-inducing without salaciousness, thanks to the intelligence and nuance brought to the film. Societal hang-ups and decorum often prevent an open discussion of sexuality. Shame is not on the agenda here – desire, love, lust, jealousy, possessiveness are. Advertising and pornography can have an unhealthy skewing of our wants and perceptions, just as much as conservative mores; it is thus refreshing to see a movie aim to tackle an aspect of burgeoning sexuality.
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As with THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY, the camerawork is initially woozy as Dora turns 18-years old and comes off her medication. Mentally challenged, it is unclear what the purposes of the meds were; but their absence sees a startling awakening. Her relationship with the minutiae of nature – insects and flowers in close-up - and then her own physical desires quickly snaps on. Parents, Kristin (Jenny Schily) and Felix (Urs Jucker), have to belatedly explain the birds and the bees; though do so only fleetingly. Not aware of her desire for a man Dora sees at the market where she works, pater and mater do not fully explain the mechanics of sex – thinking she will be a child forever.
Having the lead be disabled compounds the notions of sexual self-determination. Forever concerned that your child will be exploited, or not be able to take responsibility for their body or choose not to take responsibility, are at the heart of DORA OR THE SEXUAL NEUROSES OF OUR PARENTS. Peter, the man Dora spies, is played by Lars Eidinger (CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA), an actor accustomed to roles involving unfiltered relationships, e.g. EVERYONE ELSE and SWORN VIRGIN. Peter is more a cypher than a real character, representing what a parent fears for their daughter: A self-obsessed shark. It is not that Peter is uninterested in Dora’s physical pleasure, it’s that he is indifferent to her well-being and naivety. Parental beseeching of him to look after Dora is as much out of caring for her, as unarticulated relief to share some of the guardian burden.
Added into the mix is Kristin’s desire to have another child, and the foundering attempts to conceive; presumably down to waiting too long. Mother-daughter jealousy/rivalry is rarely as raw as this. Absentee husband/father, often away for work, it appears, is a metaphorical and literal quiet condemnation of the neglectful paterfamilias. Having Felix be an associate professor whose subject is economic mathematics is an unsubtle stamp of his emotional distance. The theme of abnegating duty of care is woven tightly into the fabric of the narrative.
Thankfully not opting for the twee or the conventional, the denouement is winningly unpredictable and ambiguous.
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