'Brownian Movement' consists of beautiful cinematography in individually slow (if at all) moving, contemplative scenes, but there ís a big picture, with a clear narrative. A female doctor who conducts (unspecified) medical experiments with medicines, rents her own personal 'laboratory' to have sex with a number of male patients she picks out at work. She has an attractive husband, but the men she chooses, she picks for their physical details, such as body hair, pockmarkedness or obesity. In three parts she (1) experiments, but when she meets one the 'guinea pigs' at her husband's workplace she reacts with great fear and anger, (2) she sees a psychiatrist with her husband, is deemed unfit to be a doctor for not recognizing her ethical conduct was wrong and (3) she moves with her family to India for their aftermath.
The story seems strange, but maybe we should put that on the 'culprit' here, the woman doctor. Her reaction to accidentally meeting one of the men she had an affair with, is bizarre, but does show how much she had been living inside some sort of bubble up until that moment. Then, the visits to the psychiatrist don't tell us much either, except that, eventually, she is dismissed from her profession for being unethical and not recognizing her mistakes. What if she had never met that man again, I couldn't help but wonder...
The role of Charlotte seems a natural progression for Sandra Hüller after the amazing 'job' she did in 'Requiem'. She is again wonderful here, and Dragan Bakema, though mostly playing a supporting (and less intense) role, did fine, too.
All in all, I really enjoyed this (arthouse) film. The title, I learned elsewhere, is supposed to have been based on the phenomenon Brownian motion, which you can read all about elsewhere on the net. To me, this could have done with a different title, and I didn't see any need for it being divided up into three parts either; it felt like one organic story about a peculiar woman and her troubles in love and life. Keep it simple if that's what it is, I would say. Maybe I've missed some stuff, or maybe I don't care too much about it... or maybe I'll get more of it a next time around, because I'd like to see this one again sometime. Until then, I won't call it pretentious...
A big 8 out of 10.
The story seems strange, but maybe we should put that on the 'culprit' here, the woman doctor. Her reaction to accidentally meeting one of the men she had an affair with, is bizarre, but does show how much she had been living inside some sort of bubble up until that moment. Then, the visits to the psychiatrist don't tell us much either, except that, eventually, she is dismissed from her profession for being unethical and not recognizing her mistakes. What if she had never met that man again, I couldn't help but wonder...
The role of Charlotte seems a natural progression for Sandra Hüller after the amazing 'job' she did in 'Requiem'. She is again wonderful here, and Dragan Bakema, though mostly playing a supporting (and less intense) role, did fine, too.
All in all, I really enjoyed this (arthouse) film. The title, I learned elsewhere, is supposed to have been based on the phenomenon Brownian motion, which you can read all about elsewhere on the net. To me, this could have done with a different title, and I didn't see any need for it being divided up into three parts either; it felt like one organic story about a peculiar woman and her troubles in love and life. Keep it simple if that's what it is, I would say. Maybe I've missed some stuff, or maybe I don't care too much about it... or maybe I'll get more of it a next time around, because I'd like to see this one again sometime. Until then, I won't call it pretentious...
A big 8 out of 10.