Anything

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Movie
German title Anything
Original title Anything
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 2017
length 93 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
JMK 14
Rod
Director Timothy McNeil
script Timothy McNeil
production Micah Hauptman ,
Ofrit Peres ,
Louise Runge
music Isley Reust
camera James Laxton
cut Geraud Brisson ,
Andy Keir
occupation

Anything is a drama film directed by Timothy McNeil that was released in US theaters on May 11, 2018. The film is based on a play that the director staged with the Elephant Theater Company in Los Angeles from December 2007 and which he also adapted for the film. The play and the film deal with the topic of transgender people .

action

After 26 happy years of marriage in Mississippi, insurance company Early Landry loses his wife in a fatal car accident and tries to end his life too. He survived and was given the choice at the hospital of either going to a psychiatric ward or moving to live with his sister Laurette in Los Angeles. The energetic Laurette made this decision for him and welcomed him. There the indifferent Early feels out of place in the family and social life of his committed sister. While walking through Hollywood, he becomes aware of a detached apartment and decides to move into it. The unfamiliar proximity to his neighborhood irritates him, but arouses his silent interest. One day the spirited Freda Von Rhenberg stands in front of his door and bursts verbosely into his loneliness. The shy widower from the provinces and the extroverted trans woman trust each other. Despite their contradicting life paths and characters, they bear the same scars of unsuccessful suicide attempts . Freda encourages Early to read her the love letters of his late wife. He shows her the stars and helps her with the pill withdrawal. She goes out with him and talks about her experiences on the street. An uncompromising affection develops between them, which encounters incomprehension and resistance around both of them. When Early introduces Freda to his family, the situation escalates because Laurette expresses herself in an aggressive and hurtful way about the intimacy of this relationship, for which Freda and Early themselves have not yet found ways and words. Freda withdraws injured and Early insecure. He tries to understand what his feelings for Freda say about his sexual identity. It becomes clear to him that he wants to be with Freda under all circumstances - whatever he has to be or become for it.

Literary template

The film is based on a play of the same name by Timothy McNeil, which he adapted for the film himself. In Anything it comes to Early, after having tried at least four times to commit suicide and takes every opportunity to try a widower from the south, which is brought by his sister to Los Angeles again. In Los Angeles he met the pill-dependent travesty artist Freda Von Rhenberg, who works as a prostitute. A relationship develops between the widower and the cynical Freda. They are very open and honest with one another.

Anything was staged by the Elephant Theater Company at the Lillian Theater in Los Angeles in 2007 and 2008, directed by David Fofi. McNeil himself had played Early in the performances there. For him, Anything is a story about two people who “don't allow themselves to be locked in by social and cozy pigeonholing”. "Ultimately, the film is written as a response to people who fear that they reject the different."

production

Anything was produced by Mark Ruffalo and directed by Timothy McNeil, who adapted his own play for the film. It is McNeil's debut feature film as a director and screenwriter.

In May 2016 it was announced that Matt Bomer would play the leading role of trans woman Freda Von Rhenburg. Even before the premiere there was criticism that this role was filled with a cis man, although trans actresses like Jen Richards had also auditioned. In response to this, the production team explicitly declared their solidarity with queer people in the film's press kit and pointed out that the film, with associate producer Kylene Steele, was supported by a transgender woman from development to post-production.

The role of Early Landry was cast with John Carroll Lynch . Maura Tierney , Micah Hauptman , Margot Bingham and Melora Hardin can also be seen in other roles . The German dubbing was created after the dialogue direction and a dialogue script by Detlef Klein on behalf of DMT - Digital Media Technologie GmbH, Hamburg. Detlef Bierstedt speaks in the German version Early Landry, Jaron Löwenberg lends his voice to Bomer in the role of Freda Von Rhenburg.

The soundtrack with three pieces of music, one of which was a cover version of the Spectacular Spectacular of the Bee Gees ' song How Can You Mend a Broken Heart , was released as an EP for download in mid-December 2019.

The shooting took place in California. The film premiered on June 17, 2017 at the Los Angeles Film Festival and was released in US cinemas on May 11, 2018. A cinema release in Germany was on May 9, 2019.

reception

Age ratings and reviews

In Germany, the film was approved by the FSK from the age of 12. The statement of reasons for the release states that individual dramatic scenes, such as the suicide attempt , are kept short and the violence in the prostitution milieu is depicted cautiously: “There is also drug consumption , but this is in no way glorified. The focus is on the relationship between the main characters and the message of tolerance . "

Christian Horn from the Gilde deutscher Filmkunsttheater writes that Timothy McNeil relies on clear recordings and dignified cuts in the cinematic design. While there is a lot going on inside the figures, the design remains unexcited and unspectacular in the best sense of the word. The reduced staging draws attention all the more to the strong ensemble, which is of paramount importance for the success of the drama.

Martin Thomson describes Anything in the Austrian daily Die Presse as a sensitive love drama “that ends before the two of them have sex”, and the specialty of which is “that they don't seem to care whether they have their sexual identities consider compatible or not ”. “Early and Frieda recognize their affection for one another when they reveal themselves to each other as hurt and vulnerable. [...] In this way they regain an authentic, amorous expressiveness that is not defined gender but human. "

According to Bianka Piringer, Anything places too little value on realism and credible figure drawing: “People like to indulge in the somewhat fairytale charm of the basic idea, according to which people like Early and Freda can hope to tear down the milieu barriers between them with a shrug [.. .] A certain distance from reality becomes noticeable in the rather asserted, quickly sketched development of the characters. The film aims too much to be comforting and disarming. "

Awards

Los Angeles Film Fest Awards 2017

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Release certificate for Anything . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry (PDF; test number: 189329 / K). Template: FSK / maintenance / type not set and Par. 1 longer than 4 characters
  2. ↑ Age rating for Anything . Youth Media Commission .
  3. ^ Raquel Willis: Everything That's Wrong with 'Anything' In: vice.com, September 1, 2016.
  4. ↑ Laura Hitchcock: A CurtainUp Los Angeles Review 'Anything' In: curtainup.com, December 7, 2007.
  5. ↑ A strong film about the power of love In: Queer.de, May 6, 2019. Retrieved January 4, 2020
  6. ↑ Dave McNary: Matt Bomer, John Carroll Lynch to Star in Transgender Drama 'Anything' In: Variety, August 29, 2016.
  7. ↑ Tolly Wright: Matt Bomer to Star As a Transgender Woman Opposite John Carroll Lynch in Anything In: vulture.com, August 29, 2016.
  8. ↑ A strong film about the power of love In: Queer.de, May 6, 2019. Retrieved January 4, 2020
  9. ↑ http://filmmusicreporter.com/2019/12/17/anything-soundtrack-ep-released/
  10. ↑ Start dates Germany In: insidekino.com. Retrieved November 23, 2018.
  11. ↑ https://www.spio-fsk.de/?seitid=2737&tid=469&Vers=1&FGID=5003
  12. ↑ https://www.programmkino.de/content/Filmkritiken/anything/
  13. ↑ Martin Thomson: The Depressive and the Prostitute: Sensitive love drama "Anything". In: diepresse.com. May 13, 2019, accessed January 4, 2020 .
  14. ↑ Bianka Piringer: Review: Anything. In: spielfilm.de. Retrieved January 4, 2020 .
  15. ↑ Greg Evans: LA Film Fest Award Winners: 'Becks', 'The Keeping Hours' Among Honorees - Complete List In: deadline.com, June 22, 2017.