Last month, we got a Facebook message from a very brave filmmaker. Jaschar L Marktanner invited us to watch and review his short film, voluntarily facing the wrath of not one but three admitted Assholes. How fun it would be to pan AUFDRUCK (LABEL in English), from a writer-director so boldly putting themself in the hot seat.
Imagine my disappointment when I actually enjoyed it. LABEL is only four minutes long so a spoiler-free description is a unique challenge for me as a reviewer. I think (and hope) that Jaschar won’t mind me telling you that it’s shot in black and white, which is an excellent choice, partly because it adds to the French New Wave feel. In their first IMDB credits, Kira Mathis and Mary Krasnoperova play two women in a coffee shop describing a mutual acquaintance as a “son of a bitch”. Labelling and complaining with a friend over coffee may seem like a pretty universal experience but it soon becomes clear that these women use the label pretty liberally, as the conversation becomes more and more absurd.
LABEL is funny, gradually upping the ridiculousness as it follows the structure of a really good comedy sketch. Marktanner’s film has more to offer than just laughs though with what I read as an effective critique of modern fatalism. I am happy to report, however, that he has generously given this Asshole one thing to grumble about. Speaking no German, I was forced to watch LABEL with English subtitles which were colour-coded depending on who was speaking. I found the dark red to be difficult to read against the black and white background. Once or twice, I had to pause it to avoid missing a single word. There, I said it.
Overall, LABEL is well worth your time and I am grateful to Jaschar for sharing it with us.
ASSHOLES WATCHING MOVIES 
Brave chap indeed, maybe I’ll send you my cat movie 🙂
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Hahaha you totally should. It can’t possibly be worse than Catwoman.
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Hard to read subtitles are the worst. I once tried to watch a French version of Gigi, but the subtitles were all but unreadable. And my French isn’t all that good.
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No, mine either, especially when they’re talking fast. The worst was The White Ribbon, white subtitles against white background.
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Sounds interesting. And four minutes is about my attention span these days!
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Yes, even for a short this is short.
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It sounds really interesting! I’m glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
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Tssk tssk,those German filmmakers are always hippies, mostly old hippies (Werner Herzog anyone?) with some chip on their shoulders and a message to relay to their long-suffering fans. Technically completely unconsumable (who the fuk sells 4 min Blu-rays please?) and mostly of questionable entertainment quality.
Who doesn’t remember Herzog/Kinski trawling a steamboat through the amazon rain forest and getting into personal fights of clashing egos.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aguirre,_the_Wrath_of_God
The resulting doccie about KInski’s legendary freak-outs proved far more interesting than the actual movie. 😉
But is it art?
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