Paradise: Hope

Melanie is thirteen. Her mother has gone on holiday to Kenya and the girl is sent to a camp for the summer. The camp is in the Austrian mountains and its aim is weight loss: scales, measurements, hours of exercise, portion control and a roll call in the evening. At night the girls gather in the rooms, share hidden food and talk. Melanie begins to take an interest in the camp doctor. The man is in his forties and notices. Ulrich Seidl directs. It is an Austrian production. The film is the last link in a trilogy; the three films describe three women of the same family separately and take place in the same summer. Seidl's known method holds here: symmetrical framing, a fixed camera and non-professional actors. The matter the narrative builds is control of the body; the order of the camp is shown as an institution and the narrative passes no comment. The strand with the doctor is its most uncomfortable side; the film shows no open incident anywhere and keeps the tension constant. The scenes among the girls are its warmest and were worked with room for improvisation. The ending is left uncertain and nothing is resolved. Who it is for: viewers who like Austrian art cinema and distanced narrative. Who it is not for: the subject is uncomfortable, the pace slow, and the film passes no comment.