Unmade Beds (2009) Reviews

• Much better than I first thought

  jm107012011-02-11

  I hated Unmade Beds at first because I did not recognize it. I have revised this review so many times already that I hope IMDb will allow just one more. I think I can get it right at last. At first, this seemed like a bleak and depressing picture of young people: of random, meaningless sex, total aimlessness in life, and grating, obnoxious music. They seemed more old and worn-out than young, more dead than alive, and it made me very sad. But then suddenly I saw that they are exactly like me when I was their age, and if this movie had been made in the East Village of New York City in 1967 instead of London more than 40 years later, I could easily have been in it; and not one word, not one scene, not the tiniest detail would have to change. This is EXACTLY what life was like then. The life it shows looks bleak and pointless to older generations (that's me now), but under the surface it is a life of unbelievable, matchless discovery and productivity. At the time I seemed just as lost as the kids in this movie do, but I look back on the late 1960s as the most glorious time in the history of the world, a time of unprecedented beauty, change and innovation. I trust that the generation depicted so accurately in Unmade Beds will feel the same about their own youth 40 years from now. I especially recommend this movie to old farts like me who hate it at first: that may be because it hits closer to home than you expected it to. Let it get under your skin and see what happens.

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• Unearned epiphanies

  paul2001sw-12011-04-16

  Alexis dos Santos' film 'Unmade Beds' is actually really skillfully well made; a pity, then that's it's so damn annoying. It's a tale of impossible beautiful young people living without any visible means of support in a warehouse in Hoxton, smoking lots of cigarettes to an achingly hip soundtrack, and generally getting entangled in each others lives (and bodies). It's also the sort of film where the characters look perpetually soulful and think lots of supposedly deep thoughts. Of course, one thing a film can do is idealise reality, and many of the best movies eventually end with sentimental payoffs; but this film is rife with unearned epiphanies, the whole film is a mood piece with no supporting substance. The poignancy is sham; dos Santos ultimately has nothing to say, although, as he says it rather well, there is hope he might produce something self-indulgent in future.

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• Strays in London

  Miakmynov2009-07-12

  Unmade Beds is an evocative capture of transient post-student / early twenty-something life in a borderless European Economic Community. It has endearing main characters and plenty of nice quirky touches – only when you're 22 could you start a relationship with someone without knowing their name or phone number. One suggests the next time to meet, the other the place – though I'm not quite sure where the money came from to finance the various (admittedly salubrious) hotel rooms. Some of the plotting felt very original – such as the two leads unwittingly swopping jackets and mattresses before they finally meet. The 'lost father/son' sub-plot was weaker though - Axl shows a confidence in his interactions with his 'Is-he-or-isn't-he?' dad that seems out of kilter with the more passive and subservient way he relates to his peers. That said, I thought the denouement of the relationship in question was nicely handled at the end. The film is more of a study of the ebb and flow of casual encounters than it any kind of particularly satisfying story. By and large, it manages to avoid the more obvious clichés that come with the territory, although the occasional one slipped through the net. For example, the Romantic Away-Day Train-Trip cliché, "let's just jump on any train and see where it goes." Why do they never end up in somewhere really dull and godforsaken, like Bromley? (and if that leaves you thinking "why Bromley?", just ask any AFC Wimbledon fan). I wondered if it said something slightly vapid about the nature of a current hedonistic, nihilistic and experimental androgynous youth - and then thought that perhaps that said more about my middle aged, overly-exaggerated and sentimental memories of the importance of animal rights demonstrations in the mid-eighties. It probably does. Overall, a winningly-sweet smile...and a little bit chaotic...and rambling...and all over the place 6/10.

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• I love it!

  lancelot_light2009-06-29

  It was like a detour, but eventually it would reach the destination. I like the symbol of the maze which Vera talked about at the beginning of her story: she used up all her luck in the maze and then she began to lose direction in real life. Perhaps for Axl and Vera, the recovery process was a detour—avoiding something (love perhaps? love from a lover and love from a father) and yearning for it at the same time. Then Mike's parachute theory unlocked their dilemma: if you cannot do something, maybe it's because you are not ready for it, or you don't feel like doing it now. The film portrays London subculture through foreigners' perspective, which shows the other sides of this metropolis and makes the story and images real and powerful. The music selection and the images are just awesome, especially the bokeh images.

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• A wonderful little gem that is close to perfection

  larry-4112009-07-02

  I attended the World Premiere of "Unmade Beds" at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. This is the second feature from writer/director Alexis Dos Santos, whose first film, "Glue" (from Argentina), was one of my Top Picks of 2006 after having had its debut in Toronto. So naturally "Unmade Beds" was a must on my list and I had high expectations. It met and exceeded them. The film stars Déborah François and Fernando Tielve (Carlos in "The Devil's Backbone") as two naivé young expatriots living in London, wandering souls in search of a home. Axl (Tielve) is also looking for his mysterious English father, whom he hasn't known since his hazy early childhood. His nights consist of drinking, dancing, and waking up in strange beds with even stranger people. Meanwhile, Vera (François) has her sights set on a mysterious man as well -- someone with whom she can spend a night without commitment. She is equally lost in a cold world where eye contact and a smile are a rare commodity. This is the big city, and it can be cruel as hell. Their goals are different, or are they? The pulsating indie rock soundtrack seamlessly blends with the live music performed onstage in the concert club which doubles as their crash pad. Some tunes are reprised, with common themes paralleling the pair's progress (or not) in finding what they're searching for. Watch for Tielve's mirror "performance" of Black Moustache's "Hot Monkey, Hot Ass!" It was a crowd pleaser in all the screenings I've attended, especially since its boldness is in such stark contrast to the puppy dog innocence he displays through much of the narrative. The visuals are especially notable, as cinematographer Jakob Ihre captures the trippy, frenetic atmosphere of the concert hall. Using mostly hand-held camera and stage lighting, with its strobes on the dance floor flashing across his staggering frame, the viewer is made to feel just as drunk and clueless as Axl. Vera is constantly in motion as well, looking equally lost and vulnerable, as she glides through crowded London streets looking for companionship. The viewer is always a close observer, almost within arm's length. We want to reach out and hug these lonely strays but we can only watch helplessly and hope they'll each end up in someone's arms. Writer/director Alexis Dos Santos has grown tremendously as an artist -- while "Glue" was mostly improvised, "Unmade Beds" is not although it still retains a loose unscripted feel. That's a tribute to his insightful writing as well as the sensitive performances of Tielve and François. As a team, the three have crafted a wonderful little gem that is close to perfection.

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