A mixed bag, and one that will hit people differently – this is very much a 'matter of taste' movie - but for me there was much more good than bad.
It's an experimental film, one that at times feels like it would be more at home on a museum wall than in a movie theater: A young man who seems to be able to see the future and read the minds of others, but who has no insight into or understanding of himself seeks treatment from a therapist in a vaguely futuristic world. This simple story is presented in a very abstract and surreal way, with more than a hint of Godard ("Alphaville" especially).
On the down side the lead actor (Sebastian Saville) plays both the subject and the therapist (complete with a hopefully intentionally funny German accent for the latter). This leads to all sorts of not very deep notions about being our own therapist, holding up a mirror to ourselves etc. It's not helped that some of the psychiatrist's dialogue are over-the-top new age clichés that probably sounded a lot hipper, deeper and fresher in 1979 when the film was made.
On the other hand, the film makes great use of images, boldly mixing very rough black and white video played back on monitors --often in step frame slow motion -- with beautifully shot color film images. These images cover much the same thematic ground as the heavy dialogue, but do a much better job of making the ideas feel alive, vital, and often disturbing.
And not all the dialogue is bad. There are some effective and creepy dialogue scenes. It's just more variable.
In the end, I find both images and ideas have stuck with me, which is really all you can ask for this kind of film-making. It's more interested in being challenging than entertaining, but for enough of it's running time – for me – it managed to be both. But very much a case of 'your mileage may vary'.
It's an experimental film, one that at times feels like it would be more at home on a museum wall than in a movie theater: A young man who seems to be able to see the future and read the minds of others, but who has no insight into or understanding of himself seeks treatment from a therapist in a vaguely futuristic world. This simple story is presented in a very abstract and surreal way, with more than a hint of Godard ("Alphaville" especially).
On the down side the lead actor (Sebastian Saville) plays both the subject and the therapist (complete with a hopefully intentionally funny German accent for the latter). This leads to all sorts of not very deep notions about being our own therapist, holding up a mirror to ourselves etc. It's not helped that some of the psychiatrist's dialogue are over-the-top new age clichés that probably sounded a lot hipper, deeper and fresher in 1979 when the film was made.
On the other hand, the film makes great use of images, boldly mixing very rough black and white video played back on monitors --often in step frame slow motion -- with beautifully shot color film images. These images cover much the same thematic ground as the heavy dialogue, but do a much better job of making the ideas feel alive, vital, and often disturbing.
And not all the dialogue is bad. There are some effective and creepy dialogue scenes. It's just more variable.
In the end, I find both images and ideas have stuck with me, which is really all you can ask for this kind of film-making. It's more interested in being challenging than entertaining, but for enough of it's running time – for me – it managed to be both. But very much a case of 'your mileage may vary'.