Wetlands (2013)

SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

There is definitely an excellent idea hidden in the background of the film. Unfortunately, it's difficult to find it.

The only reason I gave it a 2 was the girl was cute!! A deranged girl with messed up parent.. Kind of shock video trying to get more disgusing as it film went on... Just not my cup of tee!!

I came across this movie randomly as a listing on the web and decided I was going to watch it on Netflix. Considering the fact I have never watched a German movie, I started watching this with the idea that things going on in the movie were normal to Germans. I found that absurd and disgusting. I'll later come to understand that it is the Director David Wnendt who is a bit sick, not Germany. The film then started to make sense from that perspective. A dark humor, an escape from reality and the social norms of what is approved if you will. It's a coming of age movie about a girl who is somewhat discovering herself and dealing with the divorce of her parents.The general package is good. Like many European movies I have seen, you sort of feel attached to the characters, like you are there in the movie. The editing, music choice and colors are also warm and in tune with the film.

When I first heard about this movie being described as shocking, perverse, disgusting even it honestly perked my curiosity because I have seen many films like that and not all to my liking.I came expecting something gross or even out of the top, there was I point I didn't know what to expect. What I found instead was a very well made comedy about a teenager with unusual hygiene habits and dysfunctional divorced parents, an interesting well paced story with emotional and realistic characters, great performances and a great story that was well directed.What the criticism tells me is what we know so well, this film could have never in a million years be made in America. American audiences love and tolerate violence but the thought of nudity and sexuality abhors them.I came expecting a John Waters movie, I found a great movie.

There is nothing that could concise David Wnendt's Feuchtgebiete aka Wetlands in a single word. Well if one's given the liberty to express what they'd seen or rather witnessed in a plethora of words, it'd most likely be something close to obscene, disgusting, repulsive and most of all shocking. If you've seen its red band previews, you can figure out instantly whether the movie is for you or not. On the other hand if you thought this'd be a usual sex- comedy with some gross factor, believe me when I tell ya what you saw in the preview is nothing compared to the movie. Nothing will prepare you for Wetlands' odd 105 minutes.Greeted initially with a splendid shot of a skater girl, it quickly goes downhill before you can say "ugh". Wetlands follows the sexual and unhygienic adventures of Helen Memel, a girl who is hellbent on making her life as unhygienic as possible and labeling it as her 'experiments'. Helen played charmingly by Carla Juri, is on an experiment with her own genitals and whatnot as she initially states in the movie. Its kind of a parallel she draws with how she feels for her parents and their divorce. While light at heart, the seemingly damaged 18 year old as Helen may seem it also brings out how bad she needed to be loved.Beneath the layers of her weird habits and unimaginable sexual fantasies, lies the conflict with herself and an intense yearning for her parents' reconciliation. And Carla Juri does justice to the role. Her performance was inexplicably good, shuffling from cute and sexy to crude and repelling seemed like an easy feat for her. Right from the CG titles, her narration reminded me sorely of David Fincher's Fight Club.I for one consider myself hardened, watching movies like A Serbian Film, The Human Centipede, Martyrs, Inside, Hostel or even Salo but there were scenes in Wetlands that truly deserved to be called cringe worthy. I wouldn't suggest Wetlands for the faint of heart/stomach or the more perverse either. As evident from the trailers this was marketed as a over the top raunchy comedy but if you overlook all those gross and perverse segments (which is hard I know), there is a sensibly written story about the perils a late- adolescent girl goes though be it physical or emotional. This movie does a decent or rather an indecent job of blending the aversion with a story of someone who aches for some love. I wonder if the same would work had it been a male lead, and of course an immediate reminiscence was Qaushiq Mukherjee's Gandu.