This is more traditional. A diet camp. Crush on much older camp doctor. Heartaches. The doctor leads Melanie (Melanie Lenz) on for uncomfortably long time, but it doesn't go extreme like in his other films. Like the other two in his Paradise Trilogy, Seidl here achieves that intimacy with young actors, but more tender and subtle. The banality of pre-pubescent life is still somewhat immune to Seidl's depiction of desperate living of the adults. Does hope exist only in childhood or is Seidl being ironical just like naming the trilogy Paradise?
Teresa, Annamaria and Melanie, the protagonists of the trilogy, grapple with the society where they (themselves included) are viewed in a certain way. They look for paradise in all the wrong places. #paradisetrilogy #ulrichseidl #austriancinema #paradisehope

Given Seidl's reputation for depicting an unflattering side of humanity, one should expect that any new film by him would be an uncomfortable ride. W/ #ParadiseFaith, Seidl seems to be pushing the envelope further, making the film a borderline absurdist comedy. In line with 'the Seidl method', Faith has actors and non-actors alike improvising scenes without a script, shooting in real locations & in chronological order. The result is a truly authentic experience. There are some tough physical scenes as Annamaria violently wrestles with her unwilling convertees and have a tit-a-tat swatting match with Nabil. These long takes are hilarious and fascinating yet one can feel the real physical danger. For the fact that Seidl manages to make these normal people bare their body and soul in front of camera so naturally, transforming themselves into little brandos before your eyes is quite astounding. The trust that these performers have in him must be enormous. #ulrichseidl #paradisetrilogy

Paradise: Love reaches its dizzying heights in terms of its brevity and authenticity using non actors to bring out the ugliest side of humanity. It deals with the uncomfortable subject of sex tourism. It's icky when it's the first world old white men & third world young women. So it gets equally gross when it's old white women & young black men. Seidl ups the ante w/its African setting because this kind of tourism is usually in the Caribbeans I was told. Shot on location w/mostly local people and non actors, Paradise is a two-hour, all-access glimpse into how the colonization still perpetuating dehumanizing effects. There are a lot of humor in the film but it's mostly oppressively sad & depressing. The most cringe worthy part is probably the scene where four droopy white women trying to manage the young black stripper to get it up. What Seidl achieves here is truly commendable. But dang, it's one of the saddest movies I've ever seen. #ulrichseidl #paradisetrilogy