Thehibikiew Not even bad in a good way

TeenzTen An action-packed slog

Hadrina The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Caryl It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

Horst in Translation ([email protected]) "Tuvalu" is a German movie from 1999 that runs for approximately 95 minutes. "German" is only true though in terms of which country it produced and where the director came from as the actors in here come from all kinds of countries and there is also no German language in here. The writer and director is Veit Helmer and he is somewhat known for bringing a foreign note to all his films usually, frequently they aren't in German just like this one here too as a consequence. Helmer had worked on other films, for example on Wim Wenders' movies before making this one here, his first directorial effort. This film here is quite an extraordinary project, especially for a 30-year-old director. I am not surprised at all it won so many awards and was nominated for many more as this is definitely a pretty unique work. You won't really find anything remotely similar in film in the last 20 years. The result is that this is certainly not a work that will really appeal to many many audiences and I would be surprised if this was a commercial success back then. Fittingly, the lead actor here is Denis Lavant and he is known for his pretty remarkable role selection in terms of alternative cinema. He plays the main part very well and same goes for his co-lead Chulpan Khamatova. Both were convincing casting choices. Due to the lack of language in here (even if there is some silent talking and lots of mumbling throughout the movie) and also due to the style, this reminded me of a silent film at times. Taking away some aspects, it perfectly could have been a film from the early 20s, also in terms of how the actors presented their characters. I believe this may be a good watch for everybody who likes "The Artist" for example. I myself would not call "Tuvalu" a really great film, but it succeeds at what it attempts, tells an interesting story (especially the romance parts) about likable characters and (even with Helmer's short film experience) it is a really respectable work for a rookie filmmaker.

stebmarc The film is a beautifully photographed and outrageously funny example of visual story telling at its very best. Performances by all the leading characters are breathtakingly good and never for a moment overdone. I saw this film at the Taos Film Festival 2000 and it was by far the most memorable of the 10 or 12 I saw. I recommend it to anyone who is serious about the art and history of film making.

caleidos I had the luck to see it at a festival for young directors in Salerno and I was surprised it won for a few votes only.There is something that recalls Chaplin and Beckett's theatre works(the acting,of course)and it also quotes Jean Vigo's L'Atalante in many shots.There is also a quotation from Nosferatu in the early minutes!This flavour of old time silent film is even more present in the wonderful photography and the surrealistic scenography.I love this film and I think that it is far better than Kusturica has done.Moreover the style,so refined, is quite different from Kusturica's works.And mind that the director had made only short films before!

jpinto I had the chance to see this movie in the Porto, Portugal film festival Fantasporto 2000. The story revolves around a decadent public swimming pool, run by a blind old man who's mind still lives in the building's days of glory. It focuses on the people still using it, and on the persons still working there: a woman with a fixation on buttons and one of the old man's sons, who struggles to keep the building alive. The antagonist is the old man's other son who eagerly waits for the destruction of the building so he can build condo's.I found the concept of making a film without dialogs very interesting. Although people might think this could make the film boring and hard to follow, this doesn't happen at all. Merit goes to the actors, who deliver a very expressive and quality performance, without falling into ridicule, and to the rhythm given to the plot.Regarding directing and photography, all is presented neatly, but I can't help mentioning the similarities to Emir Kusturica's (namely in the portraying of the 'post-apocalyptic' universe and the nonsense touch of the plot) and to Jeunet & Caro's work (the building and the 'impossible romance' between the main characters is shown very similarly to Delicatessen). Although this impairs a bit the final result, I believe that in the end it is a nice movie which most people will enjoy and be surprised with (specially if they haven't seen any Kusturica or Jeunet & Caro movie).