Deed Poll (2004)

i know i wasted 90 mins of my life.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

After his brief appearance in Greenaway's "The Tulse Luper Suitcases" and before his three-months-run as Puck on West End, Andre Schneider found the time to write, co-produce and star in this film, apparently his most personal one to date.Schneider plays Nathaniel Griffin, a hustler getting hired by two rich siblings who, after having him under the influence of cocaine, ecstasy and various other drugs, paint playing cards all over his body and cut them out. The last scene is a breath-stealer, but the rest of the movie is often slow-moving and the siblings, played by Barbara Kowa and Rainer Wittenauer, fail completely to intrigue. Schneider's performance, though, remains a justifiable reason to sit through this, it's an impressive knock-out.The nicely photographed film suffers from the sheer unbearable narcissism of the director whose crashing self-love screws the otherwise beautifully written and acted film up. Most of the time, Biermann seems to say, "I'm the director, I outsmart you all, you're just some stupid audience." If you can deal with this attitude, you will enjoy "Deed Poll".After a string of equally disappointing works in Germany, Schneider turned his attention to France, Great Britain, Ireland and Spain, where he gave stellar performances in interesting films like "La Silla" and "La paz de tus ojos tristes".

the sexy guy from Colgado de la luna and La Silla, andre schneider, wrote, produced and starred in this dark fairytale of a drug habit that becomes an obsession. the title rang my bell. wasn't that an infamous internet hoax a couple of years ago? schneider was falsely blamed for it, and his career was almost over. now he got it made, ij. biermann directed it, and this year, he showed it audiences in Madrid. the audience liked it, but I am unsure to this day. the plot was intriguing, but the way it was told was too much for me: too much sex, too many drugs, too gory, too much blood. still, there were some good ideas in it and the dialogue was fine. meanwhile, schneider did good in some smaller parts in Spanish low budget movies, so he doesn't need to bother how this cheap little cult trash porn is received. barbara kowa deserves a special mention, her powerful appearance lifts the movie's value up, up, up.

First of all, "Deed Poll" was a cult movie years before it was made. The expectations were high, with or without a certain movie star from Canterbury. Finally it got made, and it became quite good. You may not be able to decide whether it's a horror film, a droll sex comedy, a psychological drama, or a thriller, but the movie will certainly not leave you untouched. IJ.Biermann directed his actors fabulously, the cinematographer did a great job with the sex scenes, and Barbara Kowa and André Schneider are lovely to look at. The best thing about "Deed Poll", though, is the editing by Christine Denck. She turned a sequence of ten minutes into a nightmare with cuts that make "Natural Born Killers" look like a slow-moving family film. Can't wait for the sequel!

"Deed Poll" is the movie to prove that Barbara Kowa is the next Sharon Stone. Her sexy performance reminded me of Stone's performance in "Basic Instinct".Like Catherine Tramell, Ivy Poll is a deeply disturbed and dangerous character: sad and vulnerable, yet deadly. After she had killed both her parents ("I was following an impulse!"), she and her brother hire a call-boy to celebrate their re-gained freedom. As the bisexual S&M sex games progress, more and more drugs are taken, and the call-boy finally sheds his skin.After sitting through this dark and moody little shocker, I listened to Cole Porter's "I've Got You Under My Skin" all night long.Unfortunately, "Deed Poll" is hard to find, but if you get your hands on it, you will surely enjoy it. In about ten years, this will be a cult film, just like "Se7en".