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blurry documentary

I thought this film was an interesting glimpse into the 99% until I realized it was about me.

If you are an adult movie watcher as I am this one is not the best but I was very fond of this.

this is a dark movie with a lot of sub plots. surprisingly it's an ok movie. if you're looking for something a little outside of the mainstream norm, then this is that movie, a good buy and not overly priced as so many adult themed movies tend to be.

The title says it all : people as commodities in the new European landscape of invisible borders. It could have been called East, West as the flow of labour in the film is both from the Ukraine to Vienna and from Vienna to the Ukraine.Seidl's style of directing is bleak semi-documentary. He uses a mix of amateur actors and real people in real locations, some shooting of which may have been ethically dubious: showing a site of real internet porn and the actors performing in a way that is intrusive; secondly, shooting most of the last part of the film in a real geriatric ward in Vienna. A real housing estate in Slovakia is shown.There are two parallel stories: Olga (Rak) who leaves behind her mother and young child in the Ukraine to seek out a better life in Vienna;and a headstrong young security guard Pauli (Hoffman) who is unemployed and on the run from loan sharks, leaves Vienna to accompany his step-father on a trip delivering gumball machines in Eastern Europe. However his lascivious step-father has other things like the humiliation of young Ukrainian prostitutes( again real) on his mind much to his step-son's disgust. His escape from this relationship is a sign of hope and independence though he is still unemployed. Olga too has to demean herself- abused by internet porn customers,also a young boy at the home in Vienna where she is an au pair; and has to take the inferior job of a cleaner on a geriatric ward when she is a qualified nurse.Although the scenes on the ward are gruesomely voyeuristic, breach confidentiality, there is dignity and warmth and redemption in her dance with the dying man. Into the real environment of post-Soviet Europe Seidl inserts fictional beings and with the spontaneity of dialogue in his method of shooting the scenes there is a randomness which makes the viewer want to carry on watching. This is uncomfortable viewing done in beautiful tableau-like framed scenes which draw you in. The two leads are non actors whose lives were not far from the roles they played. There is a very real fight between Olga and the nurse which is totally spectacular, which illustrates her fighting spirit. In the last frame in the geriatric Alzheimer's ward there are words uttered by the dying patients like' stink' and `death' (repeatedly) which are worthy of Beckett

As if you see the director's profile, you will find out that he had made a lot of documentaries before. You will find out that this film is like one of the documentary as well althouh it is a fiction story that he created.If you see the poster or the artwork of the dvd, you will feel that this might be some kind of pornographic film but it is far from it. The director is wise enough to make the audiences' attention, to draw more people's attention to come and see his movie. That is the reason why he made more explicit nude shots. It is not all about nudity and explicit exposure of women's body shots and there is a reason why he made this film.There are two main charactors in this film. One is a man who is an ex-nurse who is from Ukrania that came to Austria after being fired, and another man who is a night security guard who is from Austria to Ukrania looking for a job. Both are suffering for having no job. But they are quite different.Now that's the point of this movie I guess.The woman did all kinds of things to survive. She did sex chatting with the internet camera. It was really pain because the man inside the internet always asked all kinds of dirty things to her by shouting and screaming to her and it was really not comfortable for her. Such as spreading her legs, showing her thing more closer and all. The thing is she is not a professional prostitute and all that things that men are asking is really pain thing to do.She decides to go to Austria a dream country for her. But it is not easy for her there too. The job she found was cleaning the hospital where a bunch of old people are hospitalized. Some of them are dying in their sleep and there is this one grandfather who are nice to her who is also from Ukrania. She was so sad him dead.But the life goes on. She had to live. But she keep on living. She work and work.On the other hand, the night guard, he just keep asking for money from his dad who is a jerk seeking for sex from a bunch of women, really young women- I say about 18 tops. We see explicit nude shots of women who are being asked to do things from this father. The father even asks his son to enjoy together have twosome.The guy doesn't work or seeking hard to find a job. He is a eay goig kind of a guy who can be comparable to the woman who works so hard, warm hearted who can feel sorry for the old man who dies on the bed in the hospital.Both of the people are having the same situation. The man is having a hard time because 1. he has no job, 2. he is running away from a bunch of people he own money from.The woman is also having a hard time not having a decent job but she is keep working hard.We can see who is right and who is wrong right away.Life is hard. No one is a winner here. We just have to do our best sometimes.And sometimes we just have to keep going even though some things are against our will, Some things are not what we want to do but we do because we have to earn money out of it.It is not easy to love the woman or the man in this movie easily becuase the director is not trying hard to make them concentrate to be lovable. It's more like documentary style. There is no such thing as cry or hate or love or anger or anything. We just watch the movie and at the end we decide what the movie is about.But one thing for sure is the movie was worth watching. It made us feel something after all.

As you see the director's profile, you will find out that he had made a lot of documentaries before. You will find out that this film is like one of the documentary as well althouh it is a fiction story that he created. If you see the poster or the artwork of the dvd, you will feel that this might be some kind of pornographic film but it is far from it. The director is wise enough to make the audiences' attention, to draw more people's attention to come and see his movie. That is the reason why he made more explicit nude shots. It is not all about nudity and explicit exposure of women's body shots and there is a reason why he made this film. There are two main charactors in this film. One is a woman who is an ex-nurse who is from Ukrania that came to Austria after being fired, and another man who is a night security guard who is from Austria to Ukrania looking for a job. Both are suffering for having no job. But they are quite different.Now that's the point of this movie I guess. The woman did all kinds of things to survive. She did sex chatting with the internet camera. It was really pain because the man inside the internet always asked all kinds of dirty things to her by shouting and screaming to her and it was really not comfortable for her. Such as spreading her legs, showing her thing more closer and all. The thing is she is not a professional prostitute and all that things that men are asking is really pain thing to do. She decides to go to Austria a dream country for her. But it is not easy for her there too. The job she found was cleaning the hospital where a bunch of old people are hospitalized. Some of them are dying in their sleep and there is this one grandfather who are nice to her who is also from Ukrania. She was so sad him dead. But the life goes on. She had to live. But she keep on living. She work and work.On the other hand, the night guard, he just keep asking for money from his dad who is a jerk seeking for sex from a bunch of women, really young women- I say about 18 tops. We see explicit nude shots of women who are being asked to do things from this father. The father even asks his son to enjoy together have twosome. The guy doesn't work or seeking hard to find a job. He is a eay goig kind of a guy who can be comparable to the woman who works so hard, warm hearted who can feel sorry for the old man who dies on the bed in the hospital.Both of the people are having the same situation. The man is having a hard time because 1. he has no job, 2. he is running away from a bunch of people he own money from. The woman is also having a hard time not having a decent job but she is keep working hard. We can see who is right and who is wrong right away. Life is hard. No one is a winner here. We just have to do our best sometimes.And sometimes we just have to keep going even though some things are against our will, Some things are not what we want to do but we do because we have to earn money out of it.It is not easy to love the woman or the man in this movie easily becuase the director is not trying hard to make them concentrate to be lovable. It's more like documentary style. There is no such thing as cry or hate or love or anger or anything. We just watch the movie and at the end we decide what the movie is about.But one thing for sure is the movie was worth watching. It made us feel something after all.

Not a bit like the present day Hollywood smaltz but a tough depiction of what life can be actually like. It is intelligent and rightly cynical depiction of unfortunates; one from Austria heading East and the other from Ukraine heading West. It is also a sensitive but no holds barred story of people who fell out of the net of their widely disparate societies, each searching relief by heading in diffrerent directions. I've watched it twice and it was on the second occasion that I decided that this was a tremendous film; full of touching sometimes disturbing scenes but ultimately profound statement of the two fine protagonists. Heartily recommend this to be watched with sympathy and patience. It should change you somewhat.

A Ukrainian nurse and an Austrian security officer in their 20s face brutality of life when their career/work stops bringing income. They are forced to move to 'the other side of Europe'. With their adventures we learn to what degree Eastern Europe is deprived and Western Europe privileged.An alternative film title could read 'What the news will never tell you about how the other half lives'.Let not the DVD cover deceive you: this is not a film about sex trafficking or every day life of a local brother. This is certainly not a new 'Trainspotting'. This is a bitter view on Europe as we do not know it bombarded by media on one hand and stereotypes on another.The film showcased lives of ordinary Western and Eastern Europe citizens trapped by circumstances. Both characters are not willing to be life victims but they are not quite able to find their luck.

This is not entertainment. Not much humour. No titillation in the sex scenes. If you watch the interview with the director (in the "extras") , you'll see that the film is intended to make the audience uncomfortable. It's not a commentary on Eastern Europe, either, as the parts set in Austria show that life is rough for the underprivileged on either side of the curtain. It's close to a documentary. Unforgettable.

I love this movie because it is unlike anything else I have seen before . Yes it is uncomfortable at times yet there is much depth and humanity to it . As the director said it not made to be pretty yet it left me with great satisfaction. There are many layers to this movie. I was especially taken by the scenes in the geriatric hospital which in the timeline of the movie contrasted yet strangely fitted perfectly with the coldness of the sex trade, personalized by the stepdads treatment of a young prostitute in Ukraine . the movie might appear slow but in the end you realize much ground was covered , not only emotional but also physical .