Posted by GPR79 on 12/19/05 20:12

**Today's Specials**

Das Weiße Rauschen AKA The White Roar - R2 Germany £13

Cover: http://www.boomspeed.com/gpr79/roar.jpg

Excellent film. Stars Daniel Bruhl from Goodbye, Lenin!

"Going into Your Mind - Hans Weingartner's Das Weisse Rauschen.

Despite having won the prestigious newcomer Max Ophüls Prize at
Saarbrücken, Hans Weingartner's Das weisse Rauschen (The White Roar) was
shockingly rejected by the selection panel of the Neue deutsche Filme
section at this year's Berlinale (See the article "Panel Games" in CER).
The film was supposed to be screened only once at Berlin (exclusively
for distributors and press!). Word about the film had spread rapidly
,however, and the auditorium was jammed tightly with people sitting on
every bit of available floor space, forcing the organisors to put on a
second screening to accommodate all those who could not get in the first
time.

Das weisse Rauschen is Weingartner's graduation film and is the first
feature length film to be made by the Kunsthochschule für Medien of
Cologne in co-production with the Cologne-based production company Cameo
and the Filmbüro NW. It is also the most innovative, riveting and
gripping piece of film-making that I have experienced in years. And yet
the topic, the progressive schizophrenia of a twentyone-year-old,
potentially has everything about it to turn the viewer off.

Lukas, played by Daniel Brühl, arrives in Cologne to be with his older
sister, Kati (Anabelle Lachatte), who lives with her dope-head
boyfriend, Jochen (Patrick Joswig). In the beginning, it all looks like
the scene is being set for a pseudo teen flick. They get ******, smoke
lots of dope, eat magic mushrooms and have parties. But soon we realise
that although the magic mushroom effect has worn off Kati and Jochen,
Lukas still seems to be plagued by it.

He starts to hear voices, which he tries to drown out with other sounds,
but it is a losing battle. His usual placid and seemingly gentle
personality becomes increasingly unpredictable, unbalanced and
aggressive. Brühl's acting talent in this respect is phenomenal. In
looks he is interesting enough; a cross between River Phoenix and Ewan
Macgregor. But the dark, brooding terror he portrays as Lukas, coupled
with the complete contrast of Lukas' puppy dog personality is superbly
played. He is in every sense of the word mesmerising as an actor.

On the technical side, Weingartner used small digital video cameras in
rooms, so that the camera equipment was not in the way of the actors. He
did not provide the actors with a script, but with a ninety-nine-page
"treatment." The result is that the action often looks like fly on the
wall observation, and the script seems very spontaneous. One can't help
but wonder how many hours of filming were done and how diligent the
editor must have been.

Taking a walk on the wild side.

Rather than identifying with the sister, who is the audience's
connection to the "sane" world, the audience feels increasingly
connected to Lukas and his gradual disintegration. Lukas' schizophrenia
attacks become almost physically tangible through very clever use of
camera and sound. Whenever he is about to have one, the coloured footage
moves to black and white.

Most frighteningly, the sounds and voices that Lukas hears drone and
thump through the auditorium, almost inducing heart palpitations. Then,
as you start to recognise the "symptoms," you virtually feel as if you
yourself are experiencing the attack. It was very, very frightening. The
middle-aged man sitting next to me during the screening, for example,
hunched over, his head between his knees, every time an attack started.

Weingartner breaks down our stereotypes of schizophrenia, and it is the
sheer normality of Lukas that makes his degeneration into the disorder
so disturbing. Apparently one in a hundred of us, cross culturally, will
suffer from it. Yet, other than drugs to ward off the symptoms, there is
no cure. There is also little understanding, and schizophrenia distances
it's sufferers from society as we label them "untouchable." We don't
like to talk about this illness, because we fear it.

Das weisse Rauschen will hopefully help to raise awareness about this
disorder. Not to be affected by this film is impossible and to avoid
seeing it because of its potential discomfort to you, will deprive you
of a unique cinematic experience. This film is a "thriller" without a
crime, a "lovestory" without a couple and a "tragedy" without an unhappy
ending. "

Special Features:
Optional English subs, German 5.1 audio, anamorphic.
Other extras include deleted scenes, cast interviews, making of,
commentary, etc - however these are in German with no subs.


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