The first in the Paradise thematic trilogy, Love starts the series of darkly comic tales about the human search for happiness, making bold connections between sex tourism and globalization through the lens of aging desire. The rounded lead character of contradictions is consistently fascinating.
After Love comes Faith! The Paradise thematic trilogy heads into even more dangerous territory with the twisted middle installment’s look at extreme faith, diving forward with zero inhibitions and a positively fiendish eye for unsettling satire. One of the best films of 2012, said John Waters!
Exploring an unseen side of Austria, provocateur Ulrich Seidl wanders into actual basements to look at the darkest desires of its inhabitants. Often hilarious and grotesque—yet somehow compassionate—this is a startling look at power dynamics, ranging from S&M to the festering seeds of fascism.
After the shocks of Faith and Love, Ulrich Seidl made possibly the most surprising decision of all: tenderness. The final film in his Paradise trilogy—and by some accounts the best—finds the provocateur at peak warmth (but still transgressive) for a brightly twisted coming of age story.
Fashioned with more grit than glamor, Ulrich Seidl’s provocative portrait of aspiring models in 1990s Vienna rips apart the glossy magazines spreads to reveal a hollow core. Taking the perspective of a mirror, the camera stands witness to an image-obsessed industry festering with predatory men.