Movie Review: "Softness of Bodies" (2020)
Softness of Bodies Movie Review
Written by Stuart D. Monroe
Released by Rock Salt Releasing and Tricoast Pictures
Written and Directed by Jordan Blady
2020, 74 minutes, Not Rated
Released on Amazon Prime on February 14th, 2020
Starring:
Dasha Nekrasova as Charlotte Parks
Morgan Krantz as Oliver Ross
Nadine Dubois as Sylvie
Johannes Frick as Remo
Lena Reinhold as Marianne
Moritz Vierboom as Franz
Review:
One thing that I always want to see in a film, regardless of genre/tone/direction, is when the creators make it a point to dare, to be unsafe. One such way to do this is to present a thoroughly dislikable and utterly loathesome protagonist. It’s the riskiest of propositions, because you then must give them an arc that either redeems, justifies, vindicates, or punishes. When the film is billed as a comedy, you’re entering territory with the potential to create a truly memorable character.
The effectiveness of writer/director Jordan Blady’s Softness of Bodies is ultimately up to the viewer, but one thing cannot be denied: our lead character is so vapid, banal, and self absorbed that she completely shatters the concept of an antihero.
In Berlin on a one-year artist’s visa, poet Charlotte Parks (Dasha Nekrasova; The Ghost Who Walks) is trying to sort her life out. She’s dating a married man named Franz (Moritz Vierboom). Her photographer ex-boyfriend, Oliver Ross (Morgan Krantz; Babysitter), has just arrived in Berlin to work with her gay roommate, Remo (Johannes Frick). She’s in a competition with a rival poet named Sylvie (Nadine Dubois; Mick) for a poetry grant. She’s also a kleptomaniac, stealing from stores, friends, and lovers alike. She’s a millennial mess who can’t figure anything out. Then she’s arrested for shoplifting and slapped with an 800 Euro fine that she can’t pay, and that’s only the beginning of her problems- if she could stop plagiarizing and come up with an original poem to beat Sylvie with, she might just come out of it all okay.
Have you ever heard the expression “a victim of your own success”? Sure you have. It’s an oldie and a goodie. Here’s the thing about portraying truly shitty people, though: if you do a standout job (and Dasha Nekrasova totally crushes it), then a large number of people are going to hate it. It’s a real double-edged sword. Charlotte is the poster-child for what happens to self-absorbed youth when they reach true adulthood and have to live without a safety net. Every word that comes out of her mouth drips with condescension, and she can’t even be truly in the moment unless the conversation is about her. Dasha Nekrasova made me want to go full-on Wayne Brady and choke a bitch in Chappelle’s Show style, if only to teach her a lesson about reality.
The setting, cinematography, and score are on point for the Eurotrash vibe that Blady was clearly going for. It’s a place and a vibe that’s romanticized by many American ideologues, and Berlin truly is the perfect place for this tale. It’s a damn good-looking film.
A funny thing happens in Softness of Bodies as the film approaches its climax- Charlotte comes face to face with a reality that genuinely breaks through the shell of her cynicism to have a real impact. It’s a jarring moment that turns the story on its ear. I didn’t see the film going there, and I truly appreciated it.
Though the overall effect is still messy and the moral of the story is about as muddy as it gets, Softness of Bodies serves as a glaringly accurate metaphor for a generation’s experience told through the eyes of someone who was never told that their dream might just be bullshit. It’s biting satire that plays with the trappings of black comedy, anchored by a performance that proves that dead-eyed apathy can tell a story that belies its seeming boredom at the whole affair.
Also, that poem really is quite good.
Grade:
3.5 out of 5.0 stars
