Der Bunker (The Bunker) is the debut feature from German writer, director and producer Nikias Chryssos. The dark comedy is set entirely within a windowless bunker housing a father (David Scheller), a mother (Oona Von Maydell) and their son Klaus (Daniel Fripan), supposedly 8 years old. A solitary man walks through a snowy deserted forest looking for his rental with a lakeview, hoping for peace and quiet in which to think and write. However as he arrives at the family’s bunker, he suspects that he has arrived at the airbnb from hell…

The lakeview turns out to be a small picture pinned to the wall of the windowless concrete low-ceilinged room. The host washes the newly arrived student’s feet (Pit Bukowski), feeding him dumplings while surreptitiously noting down the quantity consumed. Heinrich, a distant and opinionated booming voice, is directing the family from an open wound on the mother’s leg. Heinrich orders that the student becomes Klaus’ teacher, something which his father has previously done, and Klaus is suddenly exposed to new ideas, time to play and friendship from the hesitant student. This means he no longer accepts the burden and hope his parents have placed on him, as well as their treatment of the man-child he has become and whom they desperately want to decorate and keep control of.

Although styled as a dark comedy, my thoughts kept returning to the many young women who have been held hostage in similar bunkers, from Austrian Fritzl in 2008 to a Swedish doctor just this year. A quick search online unfortunately brings up pages of similar incidents. Hidden away from the world and underground without light or fresh air, abused and dominated, this film is definitely dark, with slight twists that resemble comedy. As Chryssos describes his comedic style, “I want to use humour as a means of anarchy. That’s what some of my favourite comedies do.” It is a twisted tale with a serious message about education and childhood, where the abnormal gradually becomes normal.

Der Bunker won a few awards in 2015 at Austin’s Fantastic Fest, with Daniel Fripan deservedly winning best actor for his role as Klaus.

Henrike Naumann’s costumes, Melanie Raab’s production design and Matthias Reisser’s cinematography turned the abandoned bunker into something looking like a shoot from the magazine Dazed – an eclectically styled and beautifully lit house.

The film is completely compelling as you wonder how bad it is going to get.

Der Bunker is newly released on DVD, BluRay and Vimeo with English subtitles.

Anyone who has seen The Commitments I’m sure will agree; it’s a classic! As wannabe band manager Jimmy Rabbitte (Robert Atkins) tries to piece together a ragtag bunch of  Northsiders and bring soul to Dublin, we’re treated to the highs and lows of a bands’ early days. Alan Parker’s (Bugsy Malone and Fame) true to form directing creates a powerful stage for Roddy Doyle’s novel that has been beautifully crafted for the big screen by screenwriters Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais (The Likely Lads and Porridge).

The Commitments sparked a cluster of touring band films and still remains the basis off which many are built. Yet what makes The Commitments special is that the actors were chosen as much for their musical talent as their acting ability. Andrew Strong, who takes the limelight was only sixteen when The Commitments was made and certainly brings the soul to this films unbeatable soundtrack. A soundtrack that has gone on to lead the way for a highly successful musical of the same name.

The Commitments, though watched by many for it’s music and characters gave a homely and loving twist (albeit somewhat exaggerated) to the often desperate and damning portrayals of urban decay. By choosing to focus  on the hope and success of his characters rather than exclusively their struggles, Parker freed his characters of any constraints brought by their setting, but still managed to portray the truth of their situation. When Parker then combined the setting, the characters and the music, a simple but beautiful piece of film was born.

This 25th anniversary edition proved just how timeless The Commitments is. With the quality of blu-ray adding gusto to both the sound a picture, it could have been yesterday and many will be fooled into thinking this is a new release. The special features which include behind  the scenes documentaries, an unmissable music video and a brand new interview with Alan Parker are fantastic and although they may not be much interest for a first time viewer, long time fans will go nuts!

Cosmos is the final film from Polish director Andrzej Żuławski, who died just after its premiere. This surreal metaphysical thriller is based on the novel Kosmos by Polish writer Witold Gombrowicz. It follows the character Witold and his friend Fuchs, finding themselves in a state of unemployment and failure, travelling to a secluded country guest house so that Witold can study up in an attempt to pass at least one exam.

A series of omens and volatile interactions with the family at the guest house immediately send the pair off course.

Jonathan Genet as Witold: tall and skeletal, passionately channels Richard E Grant’s Withnail. Wide-eyed monologues spat at his sidekick. Fans of Withnail & I should not pass this one up. However, as with that British cult classic, Cosmos will not be to everyone’s taste. The cinematic territory Cosmos inhabits ranges from Withnail & I to the work of Pedro Almodóvar. Initially the characters look as though they would be at home in an Almodóvar feature, aided by the bad soap opera atmosphere he often creates (see Dark Habits; I’m So Excited). Cosmos could almost be held in good company with recent oddball successes Frank and The Lobster, marrying dark humour with the surreal, but it struggles to meet their standard.

Through Cosmos Andrzej Żuławski, known for horror films, displayed his ability to leave the audience unsettled. This is achieved in chaotic scenes brimming with symbolism crossed with an incongruous soundtrack – music featuring inconsistently and often in opposition to the apparent mood of the scene. Disorder and paranoia are complemented by farce: Sabine Azéma (Private Fears in Public Places) is a treat, injecting necessary comedy into proceedings. However, this is not enough. Comic turns raise a smile, not a laugh, and though unsettling, there is little really sinister about the omens dotted throughout. Some scenes are so packed with symbolism, in both the set and the action that it suggests a second viewing would be more enjoyable than the first. I’ll give this one a couple of years before returning to it, though I will definitely seek out the book.

Żuławski had the opportunity to pull Cosmos further in two directions: comedy and horror, each reinforcing the other. The middle ground is an unfortunate place for this film to fall.

Image credit: Michael Fazakerley

The grubby New York club scene in the late 80s and 90s was the playground for a group of rebels and misfits who didn’t fit into the cultural norm. Sleeping all day, partying all night, the flamboyant troupe were led by promoter/personality Michael Alig, the King of the Club Kids. As the nights got wilder, the parties more debauched and the drug taking spiralled out of control, Michael took the life of his dealer boyfriend Angel Melendez and in a drug fuelled haze, disposed of the body in the grizzliest way imaginable.

With a wealth of talking heads including original Club Kids, night club impresarios, designers and artists, Glory Daze paints a vivid picture of the rich melting pot of the New York club scene in which this vibrant and exotic LGBTQ culture could incubate. Director Ramon Fernandez adeptly reveals the historical, social and cultural factors that led to the Club Kids subculture, while comprehensively documenting the art, fashion and mind-set these creatives as the scene exploded.

The overriding issue with such a vast array of interview subjects is the problem of repetition. The sheer number of personalities and opinions involved leads to an embarrassment of riches where similar voices chime in and echo one another over the course of this 135-minute runtime. Although it seems silly to talk about excess when discussing a documentary based on the Club Kids, a degree of discipline in the edit could have told the exact same story without the recapitulation.

This is most certainly a documentary of two parts, the first involving the rise of New York’s reinvigorated club scene and Michael Alig’s gift as a promoter, while the second covers the gruesome murder of Angel Melendez, Alig’s subsequent seventeen year incarceration and the aftermath following his release in 2014. The crime itself is covered from a variety of angles. From here say and conjecture to Alig’s own blurred recounting of the events; the interviews with Alig are handled respectfully and from a neutral perspective with no opportunistic dramatization or exploitation.

We see Michael re-enter society from a fresh perspective. Having paid his debt to society within the definitions of the law, he emerges in a world of smartphones, social media and must learn to adjust to an altogether alien New York that is wholly reformed from the seedy playground he once knew. Perhaps the interesting aspect of this entire feature is Alig’s re-integration into a world that is more accepting of homosexuality, his welcome return by those who love him dearly and the varied ways in which the public considers him.

For somebody who has followed Alig’s story or has a bent for documentaries on subculture booms and crashes there is a great deal of gold here to mine. Whatever your viewpoint on Michael Alig, Glory Daze celebrates the cultural excitement and striking characters that grew from the murky depths of a bygone era and gives a fascinating insight into where that evolution led.