Review of Absurdistan

A new twist on the battle of the sexes

Absurdistan is a hilarious movie that takes place in a fictitious village. The story centers on what happens when the very source of life, water, dries up. Two young lovers, Aya and Temelko, who were born the same day, same time, same room were ‘engaged’ at four and ‘married’ at eight, and now as teens are aching to finally achieve ‘weightlessness’. According to Aya’s grandmother, that will happen when they bathe on the night when Sagittarius and Virgo are aligned...in four years. Flash forward four years, Temelko comes home having finished school, and discovers his village in utter turmoil. The water has dried up, and until the men fix the problem, the women have also dried up. It’s all out war.

Absurdistan lives up to its name in its crazy, wonderful absurdness. Veit Helmer, who is as delightfully absurd as his movie has created a high-energy fable which will have you laughing incessantly. Presented in part as a mockumentary, the film interlaces the story with background bits about the history of the relationship between men and women. These interludes have a film quality reminiscent of an old silent movie, adding just one more piece of quirkiness to the film.

All of the actors provide solid performances. Helmer’s creativity and out of the box approach to life, permeates all aspects of this film making it a minor fidget-factor event.

Posted on 02/02/08 by: silent one 08:33 PM