Spring Fever

Hand-held close-ups, sex, violence and tormented karaoke.

What a difficult film to watch. Firstly, the extreme hand-held close-ups had my eyes twitching in the first five minutes. I like the "reality" it brings to a movie; however, it felt as if the majority of shots were close- ups so there was an awful amount of shaking for a big screen. And when the camera panned around a room it sent my head spinning. I assume the director knew what he was doing as it certainly enhanced the idea of spying on people. The guy hired to follow a man cheating on his wife with another man was not the only spy. It was a recurrent theme throughout the film. However the camera-worked stopped me getting absorbed into the film.

The other challenge was the plot-line was not at all what I was expecting. In many a film with a similar plot, when the wife finally confronts her partner, there's a bit of conflict and then everyone has, if not a happy ending, then a sense of hope. It was at this point the film took off. The two gay men take different routes of self-destruction, with one dying very early in the piece. I was really shocked at how quickly the movie took this drastic step. And it kept going from there.

I'm certainly not complaining. A film festival is about getting away from the normal film fodder. I did feel a bit dazed and confused after this film but it has stayed in my mind all day as I try to get a grip on it. I would love to see it again.