At various points during this film, I noted the time, and thought "Well, I'm still waiting for something to happen". And I kept waiting, watching what appeared to be a film with no structure, direction or progress as far as its characters or "plot" were concerned. Like an idiot, I just didn't realise until the end.
Someone who has not lived like this, or known people who have, could easily dismiss this as a directionless mess, a string of scenes with no real purpose, and characters who don't learn or evolve. But that's the point Lowenstein is making, he has deliberately structured this film in a way that mirrors the lives the characters led: directionless and stagnant, not planning or thinking of a future, but just staggering from one party, gig or shag to the next. Not living at all, just existing.
Only when something drastic happens beyond their control are they forced to re-evaluate where they are and change their lives. The existence they led ends, and quite rightly the film ends also.
It's a clever piece of film-making, and the more I think about it the more impressed I am.
Someone who has not lived like this, or known people who have, could easily dismiss this as a directionless mess, a string of scenes with no real purpose, and characters who don't learn or evolve. But that's the point Lowenstein is making, he has deliberately structured this film in a way that mirrors the lives the characters led: directionless and stagnant, not planning or thinking of a future, but just staggering from one party, gig or shag to the next. Not living at all, just existing.
Only when something drastic happens beyond their control are they forced to re-evaluate where they are and change their lives. The existence they led ends, and quite rightly the film ends also.
It's a clever piece of film-making, and the more I think about it the more impressed I am.