2006 ‘Ober’ Directed by Alex van Warmerdam
Edgar works as a waiter in 'Het Westen', a restaurant. He is married and has a lover. His neighbors terrorize him with loud music and garbage. One day after he is mistreated by some customers he is sick of it all and goes to talk to his creator, the scenario writer.
Marc van Warmerdam Luc Lafleur Wouter Barendrecht Michael J. Werner Philippe Kauffmann Guillaume Malandrin Vincent Tavier
The quirky, absurdist dreamscapes of Alex van Warmerdam always look and sound like our own world, and yet are always situated in a bizarre alternative reality that's distinctively different from it in the most unpredictable and funny way, with the peculiar dialogue fully being a part of that. But behind the facade of absurdist humour there is always something hidden, something grim, waiting to be unleashed, as the mood slowly fades into murkier shades of colors.
Comically tragic, well acted and blurring the lines between reality and fantasy with a wildly enjoyable low-key surreality, Waiter aka Ober is further prove that Alex van Warmerdam is one of the more interesting Dutch directors.
There is nothing strange or bizarre enough in the world of my favourite Dutch director, Alex van Warmerdam. And here he gives us perhaps his most surrealistic film yet.
What happens when a character in the film you're watching decides he's had enough and confronts the screenwriter of said film with this, demanding a better life. On a superficial level, this kind of meta awareness is not that original, but in the hands of van Warmerdam it turns into a hyper-realistic tragedy with wry humour and absurd observations about the pettiness of life and desire.
Because we are shown that the characters we are watching aren't real and never will be, they are allowed to be larger than life and…
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Cuando una película va sobre la insatisfacción y terminas de verla profundamente embargado por dicho sentimiento ¿La peli es buena o mala?
A waiter (Alex van Warmerdam) leads a shitty life as he got a sick wife at home, an eccentric secret lover, nasty neighbors and gets hassled at work by annoying customers. One day he's fed up and visits the screenwriter responsible for his misery...
So, this is Alex van Warmerdams take on ADAPTATION in which a fictious character is actually aware of his existence on paper which adds a nice meta element to the story. But there's more as van Warmerdam may also very well comment on his own writing here (obviously the writer in the movie is not played by him) tackling his trademark topic of men struggling with relationships and life in general.
The pacing is a bit…
I've enjoyed all the van Warmerdam films I've seen, but they always leave me a little distanced. This is the closest to hitting the sweet spot, and I think it's because of the meta aspects. It has the usual absurdist humour of his films, but the wrinkle adds a layer of meaning besides "modern life sucks."
El típico universo de Alex van Wardermam al servicio de la destrucción de la clase burguesa. Es complicado hacer una reseña sin destripar nada, así que vamos a dejarlo en que es una película-juego que gustará a novelistas y camareros con ganas de pegarle una hostia a algún que otro cliente.
The quirky, absurdist dreamscapes of Alex van Warmerdam always look and sound like our own world, and yet are always situated in a bizarre alternative reality that's distinctively different from it in the most unpredictable and funny way, with the peculiar dialogue fully being a part of that. But behind the facade of absurdist humour there is always something hidden, something grim, waiting to be unleashed, as the mood slowly fades into murkier shades of colors.
Comically tragic, well acted and blurring the lines between reality and fantasy with a wildly enjoyable low-key surreality, Waiter aka Ober is further prove that Alex van Warmerdam is one of the more interesting Dutch directors.
Dutch actor/director Alex van Warmerdam has a surrealist streak in him, but there's also the grey deadpan comedy of Aki Kaurismaki in this story of a put-upon waiter trying to slog through his own story with no help from his creator. Seriously: van Warmerdam plays Edgar, a character well-aware of the story being fed to him by the hack writer making it up as he goes along. He's suffers abuses mental and physical, thwarted from love and pleasure by the fickle caprices of an author simply interested in watching his protagonist suffer, thinking that must somehow constitute drama. It's tough to watch Edgar get the tar beat out of him, but it's mostly a pretense of violence -- it's actually…
This was ridiculous, and I kind of loved it? Me and my mum were cry-laughing but I’m not sure it was supposed to be that funny. Deducting one star for it being not very diverse, another for the stiff as fuck acting... although... maybe that meant was part of the movie.
Not one of Van Warmerdam's best, but still very fun. Some scenes, especially the boring 25-year anniversary party, felt very Kaurismaki-esque.
A waiter (Alex van Warmerdam) leads a shitty life as he got a sick wife at home, an eccentric secret lover, nasty neighbors and gets hassled at work by annoying customers. One day he's fed up and visits the screenwriter responsible for his misery...
So, this is Alex van Warmerdams take on ADAPTATION in which a fictious character is actually aware of his existence on paper which adds a nice meta element to the story. But there's more as van Warmerdam may also very well comment on his own writing here (obviously the writer in the movie is not played by him) tackling his trademark topic of men struggling with relationships and life in general.
The pacing is a bit…
I hate to see Africans in tribal gear in his movies. His first movie had them and blackface. But I think it's part of his strategy to make you uncomfortable. And to make you laugh. This one's similar to 'Stranger than Fiction' with Will Ferrell in the characters talking to the author. I think we all feel from time to time that we're stuck in a role in a crappy movie.
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