Pink Rabbit Review from Yikilmis Filmproduktion!
Ever since reviewing Planet Z, by Zetkin Yikilmis (see review here), I have yearned for a return into her crazy and one of a kind world of films. I watched an earlier flick, Some Smoke and a Red Locker (see review here) but could not find the same high I felt when experiencing the former. So, imagine my delight when, only moments into the credits of Pink Rabbit, as a piano plays and someone is leaping up and down slo-mo in a field of flowers whilst wearing a pink bunny suit, I found myself smiling broadly. Oh, Zetkin, you are a fantastic person because you truly make alternative cinema.
Ah but ‘twas but a dream. Martha (played by Zetkin) awakes and switches off her furry alarm clock (yep, it’s furry) and looks rather fed up to be back into the world. Late for work, she sits at her desk, and I felt that this time, things are going to be a little different. Wherein the previous movies were manic and didn’t hold back, there’s already a restrain here, a sense of doom hangs over this one, like you know something bad is just around the corner. Martha is also working on something called Pink Rabbit… ahaaaaa…
However, before we get to that, Martha mentions to her boss that she needs to get back home soon having not seen her family for days, he isn’t bothered. Receiving a phone call from her partner (played by hubby, Dominic) and her son (played by her lad, Emil, who out acts the bloke who is playing the boss instantly) gives her determination. Emil makes her give him a “big fat promise” that she’ll be home soon. She grabs her stuff and heads off, not seeing that at the window to the rear of the room, a pair of pink bunny suit clad legs hops by.
Driving down the night road, she suddenly stops, faced by a child in pink rabbit gear appear then vanish in a cloud. Her vehicle also blinks out of existence, then Martha is transported into another reality. It’s a dark fairy tale world of woodsmen, weird folks, and other such things. She is captured and held by a father and son due, living in an old shack, whilst she is covered in white mice. Trying to escape, she is seized and tied to a chair whilst the son, Kaleb offers her some raw liver. Note for film, Jakob Suchentrunk who plays Kaleb is undoubtedly the star of the show so far. His expressions spill out with zest and craziness. Anyway, the liver belongs to someone they knew, they are cannibals, there’s even a face in a pickle jar.
Kaleb has a habit of staring at Martha and her breasts a certain way (you don’t know whether he wants to touch them or rip them to pieces and eat them). “Please excuse his behaviour, his brain was damaged during the great famine.” says his father, Kain the Butcher. This stuns Martha. “Big famine?” she gasps and sobs, “What year is now?” Transpires to be 1866. The situation dawns on Martha. “Mister… I know you’re a good guy so you must understand… I just want to go home…”
As his expression darkens, Martha’s mobile phone goes off causing a distraction. She frees herself (included in this segment is the most random wooden leg flying through the air moment I could imagine) before taking a pic on her phone of the two cowering men who both deem her a witch. “I’ve got your souls!” she shows them the photo. “If you dare to get in my way, I’m going to fucking kill you!” Kaleb shakes more but Kain glares at Martha. “I have no fear of your witchcraft.” her expression is pure gold, going from confident, to complete “Oh shit, this isn’t good.” in an instant. He states if his time has come, then so be it.
Overpowered and secured across a table, Martha is part of a ritual which ends with Kain stabbing her in the stomach. She shrieks out, blood all over the place, and then suddenly there’s a pink light and a man wearing that rabbit suit we saw earlier hops into the shack, saying words and taking down Kaleb. Kain stands his ground. The man snarls, “I am the Devil coming for you!” Oh, Martha’s furry clock is hanging round his neck. Dealing with the situation and freeing Martha who is recovering slowly, his reason for arriving is to send her on a quest involving a few bizarre games and tests. Here we go, we are now completely in Zetkin territory now, for there’s cartoon stars around Kaleb’s head as he gets knocked down again, plus more zany visions, and a fair bit of darkness.
I’m not going to go any deeper into the plot and movie because it’s one of those that needs to be seen to be believed, and many will disbelieve that someone thought this up. It’s that different. The last time I entered a place so random for reviewing purposes was Greg Deliso’s Hectic Knife (see review here) as in it’s like entering a portal into a world that exists in a snow globe – the snow globe this time being Zetkin’s twisted brain.
For Planet Z, I mentioned that Zetkin was far more a director than an actress. She came over a bit uncomfortable in places. For Pink Rabbit, however, both sides are equal in strength. Zetkin isn’t Oscar worthy, and she damn well knows it, but she has fun, even pulling double duty along the way. Her main character is thrown about, hit by things, hair pulled, tied up, you get the sense you’re watching an S&M film after a while, but there’s a fresh and comical element to it all – like Ash in Evil Dead II. Unlike ash, however, we get to see a lot of legs, thighs, dress riding high and bra shots – Bruce Campbell really should have done all that, y’know.
The editing is tight, as is the direction. There are some excellent long shots around as opposed to quick fire scene changes constantly. Zetkin told me this was the hardest movie so far because of the lack of crew, herself and her hubby did just about everything. It is also her most personal for a few reasons and it makes me like it so much more than Planet Z.
Roland Bialke as the pink rabbit bloke is a regular in the films. Roland gets a chance to overact and bounce about the place this time round, he’s great. You can also tell that Claus-Peter Sefert as Kain has clout on his CV and it’s damn right. The man has been perfecting his acting craft since the early ‘80s but he doesn’t overpower everyone around him, in fact he elevates them all.
Pink Rabbit all seems to move like a dream carrying you along with it. If you come to this film expecting an epic, then you’ll be quite saddened. It’s about telling the simple tale of a woman who just wants to get home to her family – done the Zetkin way of doing things.
Directed by: Zetkin Yikilmis
Written by: Zetkin Yikilmis
Produced by: SB Goldberg, Zetkin Yikilmis, Dominic Yikilmis
Cinematography by: Dominic Yikilmis
Editing by: Zetkin Yikilmis
Music by: Cornel Hecht
Special Effects by: Zetkin Yikilmis
Cast: Zetkin Yikilmis, Claus-Peter Sefert, Roland Bialke, Jakob Suchentrunk, Dominic Yikilmis, David Ketter, Emil Yikilmis, Prince Chughtai
Year: 2022
Country: Germany
Language: English
Colour: Colour
Runtime: 1h 44min
Studio: Yikilmis Filmproduktion
