Angst (2013)

The Worst Film Ever

the audience applauded

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

"Angst" is wonderful little film about love that I was fortunate enough to see at the Los Angeles International Short Film festival. It's an intimate story about the pain of emotional dissonance and dashed hopes as two people try to navigate the challenging dynamics of romantic relationships at the beginning of the millennium. The story begs the question of whether two disparate souls can ever really become one. In the style of "Francois Ozon's "5 x 2" and Harold Pinter's "The Betrayal", the film begins at the heartbreaking end of the relationship and travels in reverse to finish at its innocent beginning. This journey is filled with lyricism and pathos. The cinematography is beautiful. The story is wonderfully acted and written by Gloria Huwiler. The assured direction and editing by Nunzio Fazio makes it a pleasure to watch. If you like drama, this is a great short film!

I viewed Angst at The Los Angeles International Short Film Festival. It is a none linear story about a man and a woman who are going through a complex relationship, who discover each other through a roller coaster of their feelings towards each other. Every time they discover something new and unexpected and the couple tries to find the balance internally to re connect with themselves and the external world. The film is incredibly intense and captivating, yet it is also very calm and meditative. Like a feeling of love, It brings tones of contrast and wide range of emotions. It is shot in a beautiful house whose interior complements the drama. Somehow, the house adds another in the film's scenes. The house propagates through the screen inside out, and I found myself sometimes hard to withdraw from the film, even after it was over. The cinematography is amazing. Slow camera moves reminds creates a feel of a dream. It 's a non-linear structure suggests no end or beginning. All components complement accomplished director's vision. An eternal struggle of the couple which finds itself involved in the affair which has no end. I would say that the film has complexity of Bergman and reminiscence of lightness of Jean-Louis Trintignant, and yet, it has something unique that you won't miss when you watch it. I would highly recommend to watch Angst if you see it around.