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The follow-up to the 2006 "Cannibal," Marian Dora's "Melancholie
der Engel" -- translated in English as "The Angels'
Melancholy" -- is the most notorious, undeniably hardcore
German release to date. Clocking over 2 hours of length,
the film is an epic portrait of pain and suffering. An
ultimate personification of pure evil, the visuals suggest
an illustration of man's inhumanity to man. I must admit I
viewed the film without English subtitles, as its German
release is the only version currently available. Without
subtitles, it is fairly difficult to gauge a clear
understanding of the "plot." As of now, there is no way to
know if the dialogue is pretentious and filled with
pseudo-intellectual nonsense or not. Although the film is
flawed and maddeningly frustrating, it at least gives the
sense of an overarching 'theme,' culminating in a full
"cycle" of life pain vs. pleasure and life and death.
The film opens to a pregnant woman. Her hands are tied over
her head, and the film intercuts with images of a salamander
in nature back to the helpless woman being terrorized by an
unknown assailant. There is a random image of roadkill,
strewn along a desolate, quiet road. When the camera zooms
away, a vehicle drives down the road and splatters the
animal. Opening credits are essentially a surreal, strange
montage. The film establishes itself by introducing a
bearded man, dressed in white. A bald man, dressed in
black, is the bearded man's "pupil", and the film shows
their close relationship with one and other, in a scene
where they meet up and embrace each other. They meet two
women at a carnival and eventually bring them back to a
house in the woods; a haven for sex, drug use, torture,
violence, and fantasy.
Dead animals and dolls decorate the house, which is a den of
decay and ruin. Other characters are introduced, such as a
domineering woman, a creepy Old Man and a wheelchair-bound
woman. We get a sense the evil characters are pseudo
philosophers of sorts mastering in the art of pain. They
are infatuated with violence and death and its striking
correlation to sex. The victims are sacrificial, not unlike
certain "animals." This gathering of characters is a
collection of extreme ideas, fetishes and rituals. Sex and
death is explored to great length and we learn how "pain"
for one person may equal to "pleasure" to another. There is
a striking religious theme in the film, too. Later in the
film, a nun is introduced, and she fits into the good vs.
evil subtext of Marian Dora's vision. She wants to pleasure
herself and ultimately gives into "temptation", but it is a
very forbidden thing. We are reminded of the bald
character's clash with himself, and his second-guessing.
Did he make the right decision, or is he too late? Has he
reached the point of no return?
Visually, "Melancholie
der Engel" is nightmarish. Wider in scope than "Cannibal,"
the same hazy, blurred look of Marian Dora's previous film
is implemented here. The imagery is particularly haunting,
and the cinematography suggests a lyrical quality, at
times. Frames will surely stick in your mind, like it or
not. Camerawork is fairly impressive, as it glides along
and pans at the right moment, gets in extremely close at
times, and establishes its atmosphere effectively. There is
a superbly shot montage late in the film, where we witness a
pig getting slaughtered, as one of the characters (the
bearded man) rapes a girl from behind and the nun
masturbating on an altar. This is a stunning sequence.
Aside from the opening credits, the music can be pretty
annoying. The overall length of the film is a chore, and
its pace can be laborious and dull. It seemed so long at
times, I thought it was longer than its runtime.
What makes "Melancholie
der Engel" so incredibly frustrating is its usage of
the animals. Throughout the film, there are numerous
depictions of different types of animals being killed. From
the visuals, the animals seem to fit into the theme of
nature, and the film contrasts animals with the human
characters -- the victims. Juxtaposed with animals in
nature, the film makes a statement that its victims are
useless creatures -- almost like they are lambs to the
slaughter -- and how we are insignificant to the Earth. In
no way do I advocate animal cruelty. Animal cruelty is
something I personally loathe, and I dislike how movies
sometimes use them only to kill them on screen. There is a
sequence in "Melancholie
Der Engel," which depicts a pig being slaughtered
(the process looks 100% professional), a worm, salamander
and a cat being killed. Whether the scenes of animal
cruelty are "staged" or "real," I do not know for myself. I
have heard conflicting stories. One story, I have heard the
director enjoys to torture animals. Another source informed
me the accusations are completely untrue. It is sad to
imagine animals being killed for a film. Marian Dora would
surely be brought to trial, if true. This would certainly
be a scandal in Germany, wouldn't it?
Filled with unspeakable atrocities, "Melancholie
der Engel" is completely devoid of morality. It is
a depraved, perverse and nihilistic endurance test. Readers
be warned: I am not joking when I say this film is extremely
graphic stuff. Rape, pissing, shitting, dead animals,
disembowelment, paraphilia, fetishes, enema, a colostomy bag
ripped out and the hole subsequently fingered, knife rape,
etc. The list goes on. The animal stuff will turn off a
majority of viewers, and many will hate the movie based on
that alone. There is a killing of a cat that seems real.
It is given a drug and its throat gets viciously slit. It
twitches and it eventually dies. The animals contrasted
with humans is a strong theme, but it becomes far too
repetitive and unnecessarily. With the tedious pace and
length of the film, the repetition is somewhat detrimental.
There is some symbolism in the movie (self-reflection,
religion, animals/humanity, etc) people will dismiss, and
that's perfectly fine. This film is understandably tough to
stomach. It's extraordinarily tough to handle. Quite
frankly, it's a chore to get through. It's flawed, it's
overlong and it's deplorable in many ways. I hate animal
cruelty, and it's heartbreaking to think they'd be killed
for art. If animals were killed in the making of the movie,
I'd feel a certain way towards Marian Dora. I, however,
cannot dismiss the consummate visual strength of "Melancholie
der Engel," and the themes buried under its macabre
smorgasbord of death and decay.
Shock DVD Entertainment presents "Melancholie
der Engel" in a Special Collector's Edition DVD.
There are four brief deleted scenes from the movie -- none
of them stand out, and they deserved to be cut from the
final product. A feature called "Blue Snuff" includes three
shorts shot by Marian Dora. The more hardcore viewers will
appreciate the twisted nature of these shorts. One of them
is called "Fruhling," which shows a full autopsy. It
looks real, which is not so far-fetched considering Marian
Dora is also an M.D. "Subcrimitero" is a short (near
6 minutes) that brings us inside a graveyard, showing
various decayed corpses. The last is called, "Erotic
Fantasy." Perhaps the most well shot, this short shows
a woman being bound on a bed accompanied by a bunch of
candles. With a plastic bag over her head, she gets wax
poured on her, burnt, she pisses herself, and animals
pleasure her. She also gets her nipple sliced, in graphic
fashion. Most likely, "Melancholie
der Engel" is not a film I'd watch again. The DVD,
however, will appeal to those seeking out some extreme
German shock cinema.
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