Universalove
When “Universalove” ran at the Berlinale, I was very interested and I don’t quite remember why we ended up not seeing the film. As it is the case with most Berlinale films I missed out, I want to see them eventually and finally I did with “Universalove”.
Unfortunately, the bottom line is that the movie is pretty bad. Every part of this 85 minute long movie is very slow and contentless. The Marseille part makes no sense (why does time stand still?), the Luxembourg part has virtually no story (dude and dude make out in a swimming pool, that’s pretty much it, so it’s essentially all OMG look at guys kissing!), the Tokyo part kills me with its inaccurate clichés (since when do you randomly get stabbed in Tokyo on the streets?), the Brooklyn part is incredibly lame (creepy stalker boyfriend thinks his girlfriend is cheating but actually she’s just meeting a female friend – eww). Only the Belgrade part was somewhat nice because it had a tender husband-wife dynamic and even if nothing much is being said between them besides the wife’s rant at the beginning, I felt like it was fairly realistic how they got back together.
I can easily forgive weaknesses when I have strong feelings for something. In the case of “Universalove” this stems from the music. I thought it was so brilliant that I ended up listening to it on Youtube for another hour or so. Strangely, however, I have not been able to get into other works by Naked Lunch. So either the “Universalove” soundtrack is just better than the other stuff they made, or the movie itself – the way it’s directed and shows those different relationships – contributes to the greatness of the soundtrack as I perceive it. If it is the latter case, then it means that the movie did manage to make a meaningful contribution to the music, and that alone is worth a lot. Out of the top of my head, I can name 3 other music videos which were able to do that.
Coming back to irrational and often nostalgic feelings for otherwise weak works, just today, we started watching “Doctor Who” and I instantly fell in love with it. The immensely stylish design of the TARDIS is a strangely superficial but powerful reason. Similarly, I have always loved Peter Rabbit, because I owned a metal pencil box with Peter Rabbit illustrations as a little child. Amongst all Disney franchises, besides “Beauty and the Beast”, my favorite was “Winnie the Pooh” because I thought the characters looked cute. (I always hated Bambi.) It was only much later that I learned that said cuteness is due to Shepard’s design. In any case, though, sometimes the feelings a work transports can become greater than the work itself. I don’t actually think that neither “Doctor Who” nor “Peter Rabbit” nor “Winnie the Pooh” nor “Universalove” are great works, but all of them can be very lovable in a more or less nostalgic sense.
I can’t wait for next year’s Berlinale. If it has more movies like this, I will certainly enjoy it.