The nine lives of Tomas Katz

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Movie
German title The nine lives of Tomas Katz
Original title The Nine Lives of Tomas Katz
Country of production United Kingdom , Germany
original language English
Publishing year 2000
length 88 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Ben Hopkins
script Ben Hopkins,
Thomas Browne
production Hans W. Geissendörfer ,
Caroline Hewitt
music Dominik Scherrer
camera Julian Court
cut Alan Levy
occupation

The nine lives of Tomas Katz (original title: The Nine Lives of Tomas Katz ) is a German-British film by director Ben Hopkins from 2000 .

action

On the day of a solar eclipse, a stranger emerges from the sewer system in London (his name is “No”; the name “Tomas Katz” actually does not appear in the film). The stranger slips one after the other into the shape of different people with whom he meets. Using his hypnotic abilities, he plays small and large pranks on people and state institutions and thus inexorably plunges the city further and further into chaos. His opponent is a blind police inspector with unusual methods, who prefers to investigate on the astral plane instead of in physical reality . The supernatural quality of the processes quickly becomes clear to him, and together with his assistant Cuthbert he tries to oppose the development. He cannot stop them, however, because the activities of the stranger are ordered from the very top: it is the end of the world, reality is switched off step by step, and the residents of London are transported to the afterlife with repurposed subway trains. The film ends with an oppressive vision of the hereafter and leaves the viewer at a loss.

Characteristic

The film is mainly in black and white, with a few colored and sepia sprinkles. He uses a montage of realistic game scenes and those that achieve surreal effects with simple equipment, together with images of everyday life in London, which are increasingly alienated and reinterpreted by the type of text and music underlay and the context in which they appear. The surreal elements of the film are signs of the disintegration of the known reality in the course of the unfolding apocalypse . In addition to the unmistakably mystical aim, the film is also shaped in detail by the satire on everyday situations (such as subway failures, the television program as such or the omnipresent video surveillance).

History of origin

According to director Hopkins, The Nine Lives of Tomas Katz is inspired by Old Testament motifs , namely the Revelations and the Last Judgment . He also processed drug experiences from his teenage years. The shooting was to a large extent improvised, as Hopkins waived filming permits for the external scenes for cost reasons and went to the locations without preparation. The work on the film was completed within three weeks.

reception

For Schnitt.de , the reviewer Tomas Waitz pointed out that Tomas Katz is not trying to develop his own visual style, but rather offers a “multitude of heterogeneous stylings and (a) deliberate break in expected ways of seeing”, which in connection with the “captivating” soundtrack creates a “ unique, restless film ”that refuses to rush to interpret. Spiegel Online described the film as "absurd, macabre and refreshing"; Reviewer Cristina Moles Kaupp was impressed by the way Tom Fisher "teases out the peculiarities of each role and drives them into the surreal" when changing characters. All in all, it is a matter of “an idiosyncratic doomsday opus saturated with the finest black humor (...).

“An experimental feature film that cites the history of cinema and the film styles from silent films to video clips, whose improvised staging places high demands on the viewer's attention. But this is rewarded with a remarkable, innovative film experience. "

- Lexicon of international film

Awards

In 2000, Tom Fisher won the award in the “Best Actor” category for his portrayal of the “No” at the Fantasporto film festival in Porto, Portugal . In 2002, Ben Hopkins received the Evening Standard British Film Award in the “Most Promising Newcomer” category for directing by Tomas Katz .

Bob Hopkins was nominated for two other awards for directing by Tomas Katz , but did not win them: In 2000 for the category "Best Director" at the Fantasporto Festival and in 2001 for the category "Best Director" at the Sitges Film Festival in Sitges, Spain .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Spiegel.de: Interview with Ben Hopkins: "Tomas Katz is just a joke". Retrieved December 8, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Schnitt.de: The Nine Lives of Tomas Katz. Retrieved December 6, 2019 .
  3. ↑ Spiegel.de: Genesis backwards. Retrieved December 3, 2019 .
  4. ↑ The nine lives of Tomas Katz. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  5. ↑ HelloMagazine.com: Kate Winslet Named Best Actress at Evening Standard British Film Award. Retrieved December 7, 2019 .