I sometimes wonder, when I see a foreign film that I don’t like if it’s something cultural that’s lost in translation. But then I remember that a truly great film transcends all barriers.
Import/Export is a very bleak, depressing, some times disturbing and most times boring film. If follows two characters as they meander aimlessly through life. Olga (Ekateryna Rak), a Ukrainian nurse leaves her mother, daughter and home country when her poor paying job leads her to dabble in the on-line sex racket. She winds up in Austria where she goes from one soul-crushing job to the next.
Meanwhile, Pauli (Paul Hofmann), an Austrian security guard, loses his job when a bunch of thugs beat him up. With step-father in tow, he heads out towards The Ukraine in search of a better life.
So you have these two unrelated miserable characters traveling in opposite directions looking for the greener grass on the other side. You follow these characters from one degrading scene to the next. None of it ever seems to tie together and in the end you left wondering what the point to all of it was.
In one very disturbing scene, Pauli’s step-dad has a nineteen-year-old prostitute in their hotel room and he tries to use her to teach Pauli a lesson about the importance of money. Like most of the rest of the film, this scene is very unpleasant to sit through.
To make things even more confusing, the back of the DVD case lists the film as a “dark comedy” and one critic is quoted as saying “absolutely hilarious.” If these are facts, then why didn’t I laugh once? I found nothing funny about this painfully long film and let out a sigh of relief when it was finally over.
That’s not to say the film is all-bad. The acting is really good, Rak being the shining star of the film. She’s really impressive and I’d be more than willing to see her in other films.
Also, the film is really well shot; one can’t help but draw comparisons to early Jarmusch and early Herzog. But the comparisons end there. This film lacks all the complexity and interesting characters that make those master filmmakers films so engaging.
To add to another level of the bleakness of this film, there is no score. Unless a character happens to be singing in a particular scene there is no music in this film. There is, however, a pleasant song on the main menu screen you can listen to.
The film is presented in 1.66:1 widescreen. Sound is in 5.1 and 2.0 Dolby Digital surround sound. Language is German, Slovak and Russian with English subtitles. This is a really well shot film. The bleakness of the cinematography only adds to the unpleasantness of the over all feel of the film.
Interview with director Ulrich Seidl: (6 min.) He talks about doing more with film than entertain. He says he wants to enrich lives. All that’s well and good, but making it a little entertaining helps.
Interviews with cinematographer Ed Lachman: (2 min.) Kind of an interesting interview, but mostly kind of dull.
Original Trailer
Trailers You, The Living, Silent Light, Red Road, Death Of Mr. Lazarescue, Bow, 12:08 East Of Bucharest.
Unless you’re looking to feel uncomfortable and depressed for over two hours, I really can’t recommend this film. Sure, it was well made, but it was not easy to sit through.
Palisades Taran Video presents Import/Export. Directed by Ulrich Seidl. Written by Ulrich Seidl and Veronika Franz. Starring Ekateryna Rak and Paul Hofmann. 135 minutes. Not Rated however, it does contain lots of nudity, language and adult themes. Released on DVD: April 6, 2010. Available at Amazon.com.
