{"id":5324,"date":"2022-10-10T20:37:18","date_gmt":"2022-10-10T18:37:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yalpertem.com\/blog\/?p=5324"},"modified":"2025-11-01T10:42:05","modified_gmt":"2025-11-01T09:42:05","slug":"we-might-as-well-be-dead-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yalpertem.com\/blog\/2022\/10\/10\/we-might-as-well-be-dead-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"We Might As Well Be Dead (2022)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Wir k\u00f6nnten genauso gut tot sein (<\/em>We Might As Well Be Dead)<\/em>
\nDirected by Natalia Sinelnikova
\n2022, 1h 33m
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cA high-rise building near the forest is famous for its carefully curated community. When a dog disappears and her daughter refuses to leave the bathroom, security officer ANNA faces an absurd battle against an irrational fear, that slowly spreads amongst the residents and rattles this utopia with a view.\u201d \u2014<\/em> Rotten Tomatoes<\/p>\n

It starts with an intriguing opening where a nuclear family with a 10-year-old son walks in the forest with axes in their hands. There\u2019s a single tall futuristic building on the horizon where they go towards. Their quest unfolds in a minute or two: they are here for a flat interview. While the security, Anna, is showing them the flat, they seem desperate to move in. The father kneels down, begs, and puts his son\u2019s head above the parapet. At this moment, it\u2019s not clear why this family is out on a limb. But the protocol Anna adapts hints at the idea that this flat or the building is a privileged place. On the one hand, this ceremonial interview, the hyperbolic shots and mise-en-sc\u00e8ne is a precursor of some allegorical storytelling; on the other hand, I couldn\u2019t keep myself from thinking that it\u2019s just a random flat interview in Berlin where dozens of people struggle and engulfed while not showing any physically noticeable reactions.<\/p>\n

As the story develops, the \u2018high-rise\u2019 building is introduced as a perfect place to live with full security, distant but respectful neighbors, and soothing leisure activities. A pornographically enhanced gated community. But as anyone might expect, the spell is broken at some point.<\/p>\n

Initial associations: Ben Wheatley’s J.G. Ballard adaptation High-Rise (2015), completely superficially Yuriy Bykov’s Durak (2014), and Ye\u015fim Ustao\u011flu’s Pandora’s Box (2008).<\/p>\n

to be continued…<\/em><\/p>\n

p.s. I. TODO<\/em>: Find the choir OST that plays in the opening and the ending. The Internet didn\u2019t help me at this point.<\/p>\n

p.s. II. A Letterboxd user HolyMotor<\/a> whom I love their reviews left this<\/a> comment with a 1\/5 star, and I auto-translated:<\/p>\n

\u201cPassive-aggressive-obscure Lanthimos fascism\/dystopia lumberjack\/slow-motion bingo with pretty poster.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wir k\u00f6nnten genauso gut tot sein (We Might As Well Be Dead) Directed by Natalia Sinelnikova 2022, 1h 33m \u201cA high-rise building near the forest is famous for its carefully curated community. When a dog disappears and her daughter refuses to leave the bathroom, security officer ANNA faces an absurd battle against an irrational fear, … Continue reading We Might As Well Be Dead (2022)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[740,861],"tags":[747],"class_list":["post-5324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-film-in-germany","category-film-notes","tag-natalia-sinelnikova"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9WYIs-1nS","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5720,"url":"https:\/\/yalpertem.com\/blog\/2022\/12\/12\/berlin-chamissoplatz-1980-notes\/","url_meta":{"origin":5324,"position":0},"title":"Berlin Chamissoplatz (1980) | Notes","author":"yalpertem","date":"12 December 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Berlin Chamissoplatz, with an overt word-play reference to D\u00f6blin\u2019s novel, was made interestingly in the same year Fassbinder adopted the novel to the TV series. 1980, a cinematic year for Berlin\u2019s famous squares\u2026 It was the first film I saw from Rudolf Thome. 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