This is my fourth Tom Tykwer feature film

Drei

I have no intention to add him to my directors page though. I think that “Lola rennt” is great and I thought “Drei” was interesting, but that is not enough. The directors page lists I am keeping an eye out for, where at least one work makes me want to see more of what he or she has done, and to list works I want to see next. Of course I also love to rank films (though in the case of Tom Tykwer it’s fairly easy: Lola rennt, the Faubourg St-Denis segment in Paris je t’aime, Cloud Atlas, Drei, The International), but that is not the main purpose of the list.

Amongst everything I have seen by Tom Tykwer so far, “Drei” is the most artsy one. It’s clearly meant for a small audience and while the direction and storytelling are interesting, it was not made to be expensive or reach a big audience. That gives Tom Tykwer a bit of the artistic freedom he direly needs, but unfortunately also makes him a little indulgent in the intellectualism. I have previously mentioned how I dislike it when French films are overly intellectual, with all the dreaded name-dropping of great thinkers and artists. It is painful to listen to the pseudo-philosophical nonsense the female main character has to spout in her job, and I am sure the film could easily have done without that.

However, that “Drei” suffers from this intellectualism is the main reason I am not able to fall in love with this film completely. Perhaps there is one more reason, namely the female character. Sophie Rois has an absolutely annoying voice, and while her face has a certain charm to it, as soon as she distorts her face it makes you wonder what any of those men see in her. The men are the exact opposites – they may not be Brad Pitt, but when they smile at each other you can see where the chemistry is coming from.
With that said, I am glad that the film is not only about relationships, or even the amusing triangle they got themselves into. The crucial scene in which the triangle is revealed happens only at the very end, and it is pleasant to see that the film does not decide to condemn such a triangle to self-destruction. (Perhaps this is the only film besides “Design for Living” that gives a positive outlook for these films without being completely vapid.) Most of the movie itself is not about a love triangle. There is none of your typical jealousy and hysteria, heck they don’t even know they are in a love triangle in the first place. Instead the movie focuses on the very basic issues in life – giving birth, dying of cancer, patchwork families, growing older… it’s quite an ambitious piece, and I think it addresses them fairly well. I also like how the characters are not being judged and live a surprisingly ‘normal’ life. It is pleasant to see a man who is separated but good friends with the mother of his teenage child, and the film offers a thoughtful exposition into the characters’ lives to make it sound plausible how and why they would choose to enter love affairs. The film never seems to judge over the characters, and makes it so you never feel tempted to do so either. Surprisingly enough the characters are actually likable.

Also, the movie features an incredible amount of Berlin porn. Maybe one reason to like Tom Tykwer is the way he portrays the city – in comparison to that even Woody Allen is totally lame. Tom Tykwer’s Berlin is much more diverse than Woody Allen’s New York City, and much more personal than any of the other European cities Woody Allen has tried to portray when he was traveling around. Overall it’s a lovely film – even if you couldn’t get behind the story and its mildly black humor, it would still be worth it for the portrayal of Berlin.