grodscorp@grods.comMIFF ‘08 film review: Seven Days Sunday
 | Posted by Scott on Tuesday 5 August 2008, 10:22 am Categories: MIFF '08 Tags: Tags: MIFF, SevenDaysSunday |
Film rating: 5/5
Walkouts: 1/5
Pretentious clapping at credits: 3/5
BPM sighting: No
The graduation film of German filmmaker Niels Laupert, Seven Days Sunday is based on a true story that occurred in 1996.
The film tracks Adam and Tommek, two teenage boys living in the slums of Leipzig. On a random Sunday, bored of petty crimes they decide to up the ante and make a wager, the stakes being the highest they’ve known: someone else’s life.
After failing and wounding one victim, the boys succeed on their second attempt – killing an innocent, and sending their lives into a spiral.
Bam! Third five star film of the festival! This compelling portrait of youth and boredom in rundown ex-communist Germany was a fantastic, if challenging, film experience. Atmospheric direction and cinematography along with gripping performances from the lead actors made my skin crawl and my mind race. The sound design and visual style employed during the key murder scene was masterful and chilling. My only negative is also a positive: at a mere 80 minutes duration I was left wanting more. The film could’ve easily been 15 or 20 minutes longer in the first half to flesh out the two boys’ characters and their complicated relationship.
