Kinds of Kindness

Lanthimos’ entschiedene Abkehr von seinen letzten Mainstream-Filmen. Er weiß, dass wir ihm alles aus der Hand fressen. Ein dekadentes Rätsel, das an die stickigen Gespräche von P. T. Anderson oder sein frühes griechisches Werk erinnert, jedoch mit Hollywood-Stars und in einem amerikanischen Setting. Mit dem Thema und den am besten ausgearbeiteten Charakteren fesselt uns die erste Geschichte meisterhaft von der ersten Sekunde an. Die zweite verunsichert und die dritte, in Verbindung mit den vorherigen beiden, lädt zur Diskussion am runden Tisch ein. Die mysteriöse, unerklärte Nebenfigur R.M.F., um die sich die Geschichten drehen, ist wahrscheinlich das Alter Ego des Regisseurs selbst (gespielt von seinem griechischen Freund Yorgos Stefanakos) und stellt eine Metapher für sein Durchwandern des großen Showbusiness dar. Es mangelt nicht an amüsanten, bizarren, beunruhigenden und mutigen Momenten, Lanthimos erforscht erneut auf originelle Weise Sexualität, Animalität, Grausamkeit, Dominanz und alles, was wir an ihm lieben. Nur mit einem geringeren Budget und in realen zeitgenössischen Kulissen. [Cannes FF] (19.05.2024)

Lanthimos erster großser Exces. Und im Gegensatz zu ihm werde ich in meiner Aussage zumindest kurz sein. Die paar interessanten und bizarrer Ideen, die wir darin finden, werden gnadenlos durch die endlose Laufzeit und den absolut nicht zuschauerfreundlichen Ansatz des Schöpfers verwässert, dessen Poor Things vor ein paar Monaten ein Volltreffer waren. Glaubt mir, dieses Werk ist von ihnen meilenweit entfernt. (01.07.2024)

Yorgos Lanthimos is one of the most distinctive directors of our time and his unconventional work entertains, shocks and divides into two camps. I'm a huge fan of his recent Poor Things and probably less of a fan of Kinds of Kindness. I really like the concept of three different stories with the same and excellent actors in different roles, but it lacks more coherence between them, and as a result it's just three more or less bizarre stories side by side. I'm not saying it’s bad, I think there's a lot of truth in the absurdity too, and some scenes are chilling in their realism, others are shocking in their rawness and cruelty, while there's a lot of humour, but as a whole it's kind of disjointed. The film is accompanied by the now very typical and recognisable soundtrack (if you can call it that) by Jerskin Fendrix, which adds to the bizarre and mysterious atmosphere. Despite the fact that I wasn't as impressed with this Lanthimos film as some of his previous ones, I will always look forward to his future work. [Festival de Cannes 2024] (21.05.2024)

I was curious to see Yorgos Lanthimos' next film after the brilliant Poor Things, but I was also I was a little worried because of the running time and the relatively short gap between both films. The short story structure can lend a layered and complex feel to films, and it's a shame that Kinds of Kindnesses didn't rely more on the interweaving of the stories, and rather focused on shocking the viewer in an blatant way. Each of the stories had an engaging premise, but due to the overlong running time, I struggled to properly enjoy the film as a whole. This menu of three bizarre courses sat with my average impression, which is a shame given the initial ingredients. (27.09.2024)

Kinds of Kindness is split into three distinct parts, each with a consistently slow pace that surprisingly worked for me, fitting perfectly with the story. This is my second Yorgos Lanthimos film, and once again, I’m not going below four stars—it’s clear his style really clicks with me. He seems to have found his favorite cast, and they deliver, with a few fresh faces thrown into the mix. It all just works. Lanthimos has this quirky, offbeat vibe, and I love it. There were definitely moments where my brain felt like it was tying itself in knots, but in the end, everything clicked, and I could fully enjoy the scenes that bordered on perfection (if they weren’t already). / Lesson 1: Don’t be a puppet. / Lesson 2: Ladyfingers taste like ladyfingers. / Lesson 3: Keep yourself clean. 4*- (12.10.2024)