Synopsis
Paradise: Hope (Paradies: Hoffnung, 2013) is a drama from Austria's Ulrich Seidl, available to watch online on iFILM. It closes his Paradise trilogy: while her mother chases romance in Kenya, thirteen-year-old Melanie is packed off for a summer at a mountain weight-loss camp.
The days run on a strict clock — weigh-ins, nutrition lectures, drills counted out loud. After lights-out the kids trade pillow fights, sneak first cigarettes and dare each other to drink at the camp disco. In the middle of this regimented routine, Melanie develops a crush on the camp doctor, a man forty years older than she is. Seidl shoots in long, static frames, each one composed like a painting and held just past comfort. Melanie Lenz leads, with Joseph Lorenz as the doctor.
It's a cold, provocative film with no score and no cues on how you're meant to feel. It suits viewers who seek out festival arthouse and can sit with uneasy subject matter handled at arm's length. Stream Paradise: Hope (2013) online on iFILM.
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