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Product Details:
Actors:
Ullman; Kroymann; Vollenklee
Director:
Angelina Maccarone
Format:
Black & White, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Language:
German
Subtitle:
English, Spanish
Number of Discs:
1
Studio:
PICTURE THIS
Run Time:
85 minutes
DVD Release Date:
September 11, 2007
Average Customer Rating:
based on 9 reviews
Description:
Jan is a 16-year-old juvenile delinquent placed under the watchful eye of Elsa Seifert, a stern, driven, and uncompromising 49-year-old probation officer. Elsa cares for her charges, but tolerates no stepping out of line. But now, as she approaches 50, cracks begin to appear in Elsa's professionalism. As her grown daughter prepares to leave home, and her marriage becomes more and more strained, Elsa longs for the intensity of experiencing something outside of her routine, something outside the norm.
Young, obsessed, Jan eagerly fills this void, offering to sexually subjugate himself to her. And Elsa enters willingly into this risky venture, desiring the verboten, but knowing it cannot end well.
Winner of the Golden Leopard prize at the 2006 Locarno Film Festival, PUNISH ME features engaging performances from Kostja Ullmann, one of the standout, lead actors in the theatrical release SUMMER STORM and from Maren Kroymann, a distinguished lesbian actress from Germany.
Customer Reviews:
Average Customer Review:
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
an interesting and enjoyable filmNov 05, 2008 this movie shows you believable characters and good imagery. but it is a black and white film. the german is nice to listen to though.
2 of 4 found the following review helpful:
Far more than I expectedJan 28, 2008 What I was expecting was soft porn or even porn under the guise of a story. The story and the development of the characters though was the lovely, complex even if ultimately a bit depressing at the end. However, I suspect such an affair between officer and ward would indeed have a sad ending. The acting was very believable and I've been fortunate enough to see similar sincerity in several submissives eyes in my own life. Her reluctance yet embracing of her role felt honest to me and should serve as a warning for wouldbe subs who attempt to intrigue those whom they think are vanilla. I was not disappointed at all in the film though personally I would have had a far more positive, for Elsa and Jan, ending.
1 of 2 found the following review helpful:
Unique Erotic Foreign FilmJan 02, 2008 The main character is very beautiful, but frustratingly the camera work carefully avoids showing much of him. That's the only thing keeping this from 5 stars. However it is a good story, entertaining & believable.
0 of 2 found the following review helpful:
voyeuristic exploration of degradation of young men by old womenDec 19, 2007 The performance by the young actor Kostja Ullman made the movie worth watching, but I really didn't find this rest of the movie worth the effort. This is a intriguing but not compelling movie that is sort of weird in the way some European movies are.. The idea of a sadomasochistic affair between a 50 year old women and a 16 year old boy as beautiful as the actor, Kostja Ullman was unbelievable to me, despite the excellent performances by the main actors. Check out Ullman in the movie, Summer Storm, but skip this movie unless you are into beautiful boys or voyeuristic explorations of degradation of young men by old women or maybe weird European movies.
25 of 27 found the following review helpful:
Needs and RecriminationsDec 15, 2007 PUNISH ME (VERFOLGT), aptly photographed in rich black and white, is a deftly made German film that raises as many questions as disturbing thoughts, a film that in every definition is a film noir - and a superb one at that. Writer Susanne Billig and director Angelina Maccarone (note: two very talented women!) have concocted a tale of disparate matching between a 50-year-old woman and a 16-year-old boy, a relationship that builds on sadomasochism as a means of filling voids in each character. The story could easily have become 'sensational' in less sensitive hands, but here, with the sound help of a superb and wholly credible cast, it asks us to examine the extremes to which people will go to feel complete.
Jan Winkler (the gifted and inordinately handsome Kostja Ullmann) is 16 and on probation for petty crimes. He is assigned to parole officer Elsa Seifert (the fine actress Maren Kroymann), a 50-year-old frustrated woman in a marriage that has stagnated. Jan feels a strange attraction to Elsa, an act that at first Elsa rebuffs and discourages but gradually becomes fascinated with the attention and seductive behavior of the young Jan. Committed to helping Jan she manages to talk her husband into employing Jan at his car repair shop the two males strike up a friendship. In a series of subtle episodes Jan suggests his need for 'structuring' to Elsa: what he needs is Elsa to punish him physically, and when Elsa complies she is attracted to the process of sadomasochistic behavior (as the Dominatrix) as well as to the tenderness that always follows their dark sessions. Elsa's husband discovers his wife's relationship with Jan while Jan's friends uncover the secret, and the resulting behavior and recriminations flesh out the surprising ending.
Both Ullmann and Kroymann are outstanding in these difficult roles and manage to maintain our empathy and understanding throughout the story. Both are exceptional actors and both have compelling screen presence. The cinematography allows us to once again remember how powerful black and white film can be. This is a film that some may find difficult to view (sadomasochism, teenage/older woman 'romance'), but the director keeps the story in tight rein and the result is a powerful tale of need and love and the sticky path that often joins the two feelings. Recommended. In German with English subtitles. Grady Harp, December 07
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based on 9 reviews
