University of Laughs
And I don’t know why. The few times I actually went into a theatre were rather disappointing. While I remember one single very good performance in my life (“As You Like It” performed in, uh, Austrian), I thought that literally everything else that I have seen was subpar. I have enjoyed stage plays but I can’t get used to them. They just always look different than I expected maybe? I have no idea.
But I do love my plays, and I love everything that deals with plays. A few years ago, when you asked me about my favorite books, literally all of them would be stage plays. This certainly is also the case for movies, I love “Dogville” and “Closer”, and when I found out that “University of Laughs” is adapted from a two-man play, I was extremely excited. At that point, I had no idea that the movie was actually about scriptwriting itself. But now, I found that my expectations were exceeded, by far.
When I watched the film, it felt like in those two hours, there was nothing in the world but me and the film itself. No homework, no research, no interhuman relationships, nothing could have distracted me from it. It’s not escapism, it’s like reminding yourself that there is more in the world than the (now very small!) realm in which I am living right now. There is such a thing as a creative mind confronting the authorities – and even if we didn’t have censorship today, this antagonism will exist by definition. It’s fascinating.
Yes, you have to die for the steak!
Words cannot describe the greatness with which the two actors played out this story, and its writing is just so, so brilliant. “University of Laughs” is humanity put into a single play and I think, if I have to recommend a film to Loris now, it would be this one. (I’m actually very interested in what he thinks, my unconditional excitement for the film makes me wonder if I have overlooked something, if there is anything wrong with it.)