Breaking the Surface

The title supposedly tells us that this is about breaking the surface ... but it doesn't really feel that way (to me). Our main character rather seems to dive further down, rather than coming to any surface. Not to mention the multiple penetrations that occur ... or maybe that is what the title suggests? But it is also the main actress that keeps us on our toes (standing erect you say - that would be your pun to use).

A lot of nudity but no vivid display of the intercourse ... well no explicit, let's put it that way. Now you may care about that one way or the other. But Sex also has consequences ... why the characters are drawn to each other? Logic does not always play a big role in relationships ... it can be animalistic too ... it can be the smell of the other person, which would be hard to convey on film anyway. The drama works to a degree .. but the slow pace and the fact it seems a bit aimless overall may feel like a drag to others.

"Breaking the Surface", writer-director Felicitas Korn's first feature-length film and film school graduation piece, won her the Best New Director Award at last year's Brooklyn Film Festival. As a snapshot from an aspiring photographer's life, it's a visually alluring one-woman show. Balancing a lot of clubbing with even more sex and a minimal amount of artsy work, Nadja's life sure is rich in production value. But the plot is flimsy, especially on motivation and coherence. What does Nadja (Henriette Heinze) see in Darius (Golo Euler), a shallow slacker almost ten years her junior? How the hell does she live (and support her mom!) on the odd skater shoot for an off-beat magazine? Ludicrous. But I must admit I enjoyed it anyway. I have a nagging suspicion it's mostly Henriette Heinze's slender dancer's frame, rarely seen with her clothes on, that kept me interested. But then, skinny girls getting their kit off have always been a staple asset of the movie business. Go see it if you had the hots for Elodie Bouchez in Yolande Zauberman's "Clubbed to Death" or Mareike Fell in "Over in the Rainbow".