The Greasy Hands Preachers

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Movie
German title The Greasy Hands Preachers
Original title The Greasy Hands Preachers
Country of production France
original language English
Publishing year 2014
length 92 minutes
Rod
Director Clement Beauvais, Arthur de Kersauson
script Clement Beauvais, Arthur de Kersauson
production Orlando Bloom
camera Valentin Vignet, Jacques Ballard, Ryan Carmody, Stephane Vallee
cut Axelle Gonay
occupation
  • Shinya Kimura
  • David Borras
  • Fred Jourden
  • Hugo Jezegabel
  • Julian Heppekausen
  • Roland Sands
  • Shannon Sweeneys

The Greasy Hands Preachers (mutatis mutandis: preacher with oil Smeared hands ) is a French documentary by Clément Beauvais and Arthur de Kersauson, of the Spanish Film Festival San Sebastian had on 27 September 2014 its premiere. It was released on Blu-ray and DVD in the US on March 29, 2015 . The film also took part in the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in the Czech Republic on July 4, 2015 . A version with German synchronization was broadcast on ServusTV and Red Bull TV in September 2016.

action

The film accompanies the customizers El Solitario MC (Spain), Blitz-Motorcycles (France), Deus Ex Machina (USA), Roland Sands (USA) and Shinya Kimura (Japan) in their work. What they all have in common is that they do not work with the Harley-Davidson engines and machines that dominate the scene and also market clothing, events and accessories. The film is divided into several chapters. True to the film motto Four wheels move the body, two wheels move the soul (meaning: a car moves your person, a motorcycle moves your soul ) the protagonists tell what brought them to the motorcycle and what they associate with it. The technical details are less in the foreground. Rather, it is about philosophizing about the motorcycle, driving and your own actions associated with it. The self-realization through the motorcycle and the scene life are spread out in front of the audience.

style

In order to simulate authenticity and do justice to the retro style of the machines used by the protagonists, the film often relies on Steadicam . The latest technology was used for filming , but the material was edited to look like a 16mm film . This makes the pictures look warm, but also blurred and blurred. Also a stylistic device to reproduce the said retro atmosphere. The viewer is given a feeling of immediate closeness to the protagonists by means of well-styled images, which nevertheless appear amateur. In line with the lifestyle conveyed, products are precisely positioned in the picture.

financing

A large part of the funds was raised through crowdfunding on Kickstarter . In addition, the companies BMW , the British fashion brand Belstaff and the lubricant manufacturer Motul contributed funds as part of sponsorship . How high the respective amount of money is cannot easily be researched publicly. However, when looking carefully at the film, the obvious product placement cannot be overlooked. The film was produced by the famous Hollywood actor Orlando Bloom .

reception

At its premiere, the film could not win any award in any category. Even at the Czech festival, the film came out empty-handed. The design and the content were rather disparagingly discussed. The documentary character is questioned and it is assumed that the aspect of advertising was in the foreground. The film is one of the first in a series of similar productions that deal with other topics and actually serve marketing.

"... is perfectly representative of a new breed of documentaries flooding the world these days, now that enterprising filmmakers have found a way to leverage the enthusiasm of specific interest groups (eg band fans, art junkies, micro-cause crusaders) to sponsor pics that have no other reason to exist. The resulting films, often made without the creative pushback of distribution-minded investors, tend to be indulgent homages to the subjects they cover, fulfilling their makers' fantasies of rubbing elbows with their idols. "

- Variety

The magazine comes to the conclusion that after reality TV has covered and marketed all areas of life with the corresponding formats for the mass audience - in the area of ​​mobility, which also includes the motorcycle, for example with the show Pimp My Ride or American Chopper - A new form of documentation is now pushing onto the market. This new type of filmmaking focuses on a very specific microcosm and a specific target group. This concept also fits in with the cooperation with the sponsors, who take care of the necessary equipment with their marketing, for example with accessories . Authenticity and closeness are to be conveyed to the viewer through stylistic devices. Each scene is planned down to the last detail and follows the development of the market. This tailor-made tailoring to a very special audience also explains why the film is almost absent from critics, such as Rotten Tomatoes .

In his review in the Hollywood Reporter, Neil Young also comes to the conclusion that in documentaries of this kind the boundaries between advertising and reporting become blurred.

"As an extended advertisement for a particular lifestyle, The Greasy Hands Preachers often slips into an fruitlessly monotonous gear. But when Beauvais and de Kersauson lay off the self-eulogizing, "evangelical" verbiage from these "preachers," their fluent combinations of visuals and soundtrack can occasionally soar "

- The Hollywood Reporter

The hobby reviews in German-speaking countries, for example on the film page at the DVD and film dealer Amazon , are mixed and range from complete enthusiasm for authenticity to complete rejection, since everything is only staged.

swell

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The Greasy Hands Preachers Motorcycle Documentary. coolmaterial.com. Retrieved September 5, 2016 .
  2. ↑ 62 edition - 2014 Awards. Website of the San Sebastian Film Festival. Retrieved September 5, 2016 .
  3. ↑ The Greasy Hands Preachers at Rotten Tomatoes (English)Template: Rotten Tomatoes / Maintenance / "imported from" is missing
  4. ↑ Reviews. Amazon. Retrieved September 5, 2016 .