Attenberg
The opposing yet strongly connected forces of Freudian buddies Eros and Thanatos are reluctantly explored by the femme protag of Attenberg, the impressive sophomore feature Athina Rachel Tsangari. This minimalistic, rigorously controlled study of the slow awakening of an emotionally stunted 23-year-old girl (...) remains a captivating and vaguely disturbing experience throughout.
The film provocatively opens with a juicy tongue-wrestling match between blonde protag Marina, and her best – and only – friend, brunette Bella (...) as Bella teaches Marina how to kiss (the latter is disgusted, likening Bella's tongue to a slug). A verbal fight turns into a spitting match before Tsangari cuts to a wide shot as the girls get down on all fours and start hissing at each other like animals.
In this simple pre-title sequence, [Tsangari] has already established the film's plain yet rigorous aesthetics and some of its major themes. [E]ducation and sex are explored and often disturbingly linked, while people intimidated by or frustrated with human social constructs revert to animalistic behavior.
Duration: 95 min
Dialogue: Greek
Subtitles: English
Age limit: K15
