Voyage to Agatis (Reise Nach Agatis) Review!
Controversial filmmaker Marian Dora strikes again with Voyage to Agatis, another demonic diatribe of repulsive artistic horror. If you’re not familiar with Dora’s work then this movie is a good place to start and if you are familiar you may find yourself watching rather ordinary material compared to Dora’s Melancholie der Engel. Dora became known for Cannibal, his film homage to the events that surrounded a supposed urban legend of the man who placed a personal ad looking for someone to literally eat. In reality, this is a true story, as hard as it is to believe. The man was Armin Mewes and his victim was Bernd Jürgen Armando Brandes. A real life event, so sick, not even the most twisted underground horror director could top it! So instead he made a film about it!
Voyage to Agatis was shot in a very short period of time, less than a week, and was made for 10000 euros. The quality is very faded and washed out, like it was shot on a high quality camcorder. The subtitles were very poor as well but the movie has this insane low budget charm to it. The music is this moody lullaby like song coming off as one of those little musical ditties when a jewelry box opens. It loops pretty much throughout the movie in different sound variations but it works. It’s a short picture, clocking in at only 73 minutes. It was said the plot for Voyage to Agatis was based more around a scenario of the cast on a boat and everything else was taken from there.
The plot is basic but the movie is character driven. We also get a lot of scenic shots of ripples in the ocean, the coastline etcetera, for filler and “setting the mood.” Dora loves his symbolism and in Voyage to Agatis we get creepy looking dolls floating in murky water. Personally, I believe the doll could be symbolizing the victim Lisa (Janna Lisa Dombrowsky) floating around in oblivion, or it could also be Isabel (Tatjana Paige Müller) and the way she feels trapped in her seemingly loveless sadomasochistic relationship, feeling helpless from her husband Rafael (Thomas Goersch).
I’ve heard the movie borrows from Ruggero’s Deodato’s Waves of Lust, which I have not seen, so I can’t comment and it’s also said it was Dora’s answer to his own short film Caribbean Sunrise. Either way, Voyage to Agatis may be Dora’s most straightforward and palatable work to date. We get two troubled lovers named Isabel and Rafael who are travelling to get a yacht for a trip. On their way they pick up a young nubile girl by the name of Lisa. Rafael insists Lisa join them on their yacht trip, even after Isabel’s obvious disgust. Lisa is dumb and decides to go ahead with this ludicrously bad idea. Sure, let’s join a disgruntled husband and wife on their yacht for a sailing trip to god knows where! Things start out playful but soon get serious and we find out Rafael and Isabel are both sadistic — Rafael even more so of course.
We get narration during particular parts of the film, which seems to me it may be Isabel speaking of her tortured existence and experience, but it’s clearly a woman babbling on with more symbolic jargon. The violence is done in such a close up sexual and visceral way that it’s some of the most hard to watch stuff I’ve seen in a while. Close-ups of sexual mutilation of female genitalia in its highest form, breasts are filleted, a vagina is penetrated savagely with a knife and disemboweled — very uncomfortable stuff. There are only a couple victims in the movie but it’s done in such fashion that it’s enough. The gore is graphic and realistic and not done in a manner of say an Olaf Ittenbach, Fulci or a Brian Paulin film with buckets of blood and gore (not to put these filmmakers down, I love their work!!!).
With Dora’s previous work especially in Melancholie der Engel we got a boatload (no pun intended) of real animal cruelty. In this one Rafael fillets a sea cucumber, throws the guts on a tied up Lisa, chews on some of the meat and spews the blood on her face! Voyage to Agatis is an unforgettable experience, much like most of Dora’s work. If you thought Melancholie der Engel was a nonsensical mind fuck, then you might want to check this one out. It’s a little easier to follow but probably not to swallow!
AKA: Reise nach Agatis
Directed by: Marian Dora | Written by: Marian Dora | Produced by: Adrian d’Angelo | Cinematography: Marian Dora | Editing by: Marian Dora | Music by: Transmitted Dreams | Cast: Thomas Goersch, Tatjana Paige Müller, Janna Lisa Dombrowsky | Year: 2010 | Country: Germany | Language: German | Color: Color | Runtime: 1h 13min
Studio: Engelfilm
Distributor: Massacre Video, Target Media Entertainment, Werkmann Filmverlag
