Tuvalu is barking mad, as movies go. This German entry about closed minds and closed societies is set in an old bath house and has plenty of communicating, but no dialogue.
Like a fairy tale or an old legend, Tuvalu concerns the trials and tribulations of Anton (Denis Lavant), a young man whose job in life is to keep his blind old father convinced that the family business is thriving.
That business is a run-down old pool and public baths.
The whole thing is so dilapidated that almost nobody ever shows up, and those who do pay their admission in buttons, rather than money.
One poor bather is killed by falling plaster.
This might be the place to add that the film is a comedy.
Anton plays a tape of bathers of splashing and frolicking and makes a great show of slamming doors and so forth to make his father believe that everything is on the up and up.
Anton rarely leaves home, despite his fantasy to set off and go to sea. A young woman (Chulpan Hamatova) comes to the baths with her father and Anton begins to fall in love.
Meanwhile, Anton's wicked brother Gregor (Terrence Gillespie) tries to shut down the baths in his endless quest for modern life, technology and profit. Gregor has Eraserhead hair. Just thought we'd mention it.
Tuvalu is a love story of sorts, shot in black and white (with some parts colourized) and is both a nod to the silent era as well as a glimpse of the future.
The story involves a complicated tussle over a single piece of engine equipment, and what with wrecking ball images and a lot of other art-versus-commerce visual references, it's tough not to wonder if the film is about moviemaking itself.
Actually, it's tough not to wonder about all sorts of things while looking at what the conveniently named Veit Helmer has created with Tuvalu. Sometimes it's fascinating and beautiful to look at. Tuvalu will certainly leave you interested in what Helmer does next.
Then again, sometimes Tuvalu causes a viewer to wonder if Helmer and his cast and crew are just playing dress-up.
Tuvalu itself, by the way, is that clump of tiny Pacific islands that sold its Internet domain address (.tv) for $50 million to an American firm called -- natch -- DotTV.
Extrapolate at will.
(This film is rated PG)
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