Parkour (2009) User Reviews

Needs a bit early on, but turns into a good film eventually

[Horst_In_Translation · 6/10 · 12 September 2017]

"Parkour" is a German German-language full feature film by director Marc Rensing, who also contributed on the script. And while I like the man's more recent second feature film more, I must say that this one here was still a fairly solid film overall. It runs for slightly over 1.5 hours including credits and the cast does not feature any big names like Bleibtreu, but several people that German film buffs may have come across in other projects too, most of all the two Austrians von Waldstätten and recent German Film Award winner Friedrich. It was released back in 2009, so this one will have its 10th anniversary soon. I think it was a nice idea overall to make a connection between the central character's passion for Parkour and the obstacles he has to overcome in his personal life, where he actually fails more and more often the longer the movie goes. You do not need to be a fan of Parkour to enjoy the film as this is really just an addition and not in the center of it, even if the title and the poster that looks like from a sports documentary could have you think otherwise. I don't care about this activity either and still managed to enjoy these 90 minutes. It's not best of the year material, but the script is really good at times like for example the plot twist about Friedrich's character near the end or also the very final scene/shot were handled nicely. The actors may not be as good as the script, but they are pretty solid too and nobody really stands out positively or negatively all in all. A pretty good ensemble performance. This film is a good example of how to turn a creative idea into a quality movie and Rensing's rookie effort was fairly impressive. If he keeps going like that, we can expect a lot of convincing films in the future from him. Until then, check out this well-done character study an destructive jealousy here. You will not be disappointed I'm sure.

Tour de Force

[Equinox23 · 10/10 · 5 March 2011]

Force is the subject of Richie's, Nonne's and Paule's life. They all practice the sport parkour, where they train to overcome obstacles in the most efficient way, only employing their bodies. A high scale of concentration and equilibrium of body and mind is necessary for the successful performance. This equilibrium gets disturbed when Richie begins developing a jealous attitude towards his girlfriend Hannah and her aim to better her position in life. Slowly but distinctively this jealousy grows pathological and alienates him from his friends, to what degree is only revealed at the end of the movie, when it becomes obvious that Richie needs medical treatment. Yet he and his friends face their athletic masterpiece at the end of the movie. Nonne and Paule succeed but Richie's body and physical health have been wrecked by his pathological state and the medication The movie has an open end, though there are hints that Richie at least has overcome his morbid jealousy. Truly a great physical and emotional effort by the young cast, especially by Christoph Letkowski,whose calm and controlled yet forceful performance very convincingly portrays Richie's drifting away into a split personality. Ingeniously Rensing avoids all showing off of actual physical violence directed against other beings or oneself, though he definitely highlights the consequences.