Paradise: Hope
Dir: Ulrich Seidl
2013
****
Ulrich Seidl's Paradise Trilogy, based on the theological virtues of Love, Faith and Hope, revolve around three related women, each of which have their own film. The ideology of the three virtues being paradise are each delivered with a dry but humorous twist and with contemporary themes. Love saw Teresa travel to Kenya as a sex tourist during her vacation while in Faith, her sister Anna Maria decides to stay at home and do missionary work to save the souls of Austria. Hope sees Melanie (Teresa's daughter, Anna Maria's Niece) carted off against her will to fat camp during her school holidays. The irony that her mother is fairly overweight isn't lost on those that have watched the first two films. Melanie is a typically unmotivated late teen who fits in well with the others in the camp. Their days include hours of monotonous exercise and outdated motivational tasks. The kids scoff their faces with hidden chocolate in the evenings and start to misbehave the more and more the confidence tasks they endure. This is a brilliantly observed and socially overlooked aspect of certain methods of education. This takes an uncomfortable and unexpected turn as the young overweight Melanie flirts with the camp doctor who obviously has a taste for the young and vulnerable. Hope is sickly sweet but is a fascinating companion piece to the first film, with the second film somehow out of place in the trilogy. I'm a fan of dark humour and pushing the boundaries, Hope came uncomfortably close to my limit but makes some valid points and asks interesting question of ourselves. A real one off trilogy worth investigating.