Exclusive Interview with Marina Anna Eich

Posted on September 6, 2011 by TR

Excerpts from my interview with Marina Anna Eich, the star of “24/7, The Passion of Life“, made exclusively for this blog.

Q. Some extensive research seem to have gone into exploring the world of BDSM. Are any in the production team active or former BDSM practitioners?
A. No, we had the same prejudice as many other people. But knowing we are entering a foreign world, and making a film with elements of it, we did some research for months before shooting the first scene. We talked to people who practice BDSM or swinging, we had a close look and observed.

Q. How challenging was it for you to perform in these sex scenes. And how much input was yours in the manner in which it was depicted. Looking back, do you still think they are essential to the narrative?
A. I think when making a film about double morals, hidden sexuality and society, it is necessary to also show some of the sexual situations. It would be prudish not to show what it is about. I made a lot of input to my role. Before each scene I made the proposal of what I wanted to do and show… That is the great thing about working with WTP, every actor can give their input and form her/his role the way she/he likes. It was challenging in a good way, as also for me (as Marina) it was a new area, and I immersed like Eva into the new world.

Q. Would you consider making such scenes in future?
A. Sure, why not? Sexuality and nudity is an essential element in life, so why not show its naturalness.

Q. Apart from being an integral part of the WTP production team, are you currently doing any other work, either as an actress or in some other profession?
A. In the last 3 years I have done one more feature film apart from WTP (Horror genre; Title: Break) which my cousin (Matthias Olof Eich) directed. I wanted to support him with his first feature film.
In 2009 and 2010, I was also the spokesperson (and did all the press work and public relations) for the upcoming “Five Lake Film Festival” which is held yearly in July/August in the south of Munich.

Q. What do you prefer to do in your spare time?
A. I am a passionate biker and ride about 25000 Km a year with my two bikes (cruising with my Street Bob-Harley Davidson and speeding with my Honda Hornet). Apart from that I like hiking, reading books, learning languages, relaxing and taking a sauna. In my spare time I look for calmness and peace because at work, there are always so many people surrounding you.


*** STOP PRESS * STOP PRESS * STOP PRESS ***

WTP Film News Extra

WTP International has almost completed shooting its latest film, “The Truth of Lie” due for release later this year. The film bears some similarities to “The Dark Side of our Inner Space“.

Synopsis:
A man (Christoph Baumann), 35, studies psychology and works additionally as motivational coach, but wants to do more. He decides to become an author. The subject which fascinates him is emotional borderline experience. He seeks volunteers willing to get into an extreme experiment for money for a period of 5 days, and hires an abandoned factory.
Two young women agree to volunteer. One (Marina Anna Eich) is a daredevil that likes adventures. She seeks excitement and thrill. The other one (Julia Jascke) is more circumspect and submissive. However, apart from the money, it is the possibility of self-awareness that is of more interest to her.
After arriving at the dungeon Christoph plays some psychological games with them which unfortunately doesn’t reach true borderline. He takes notes and carries on his presentations, but is aware the five days will be over soon. He decides together with his publisher (Antje Nikola Mönning) to extend the five days without letting the volunteers know and tries to drive them to the extreme. What begins as a game soon turns serious, and the frontiers get blurred – one doesn’t know anymore who is victim and who is offender.
What is reality?

With such a storyline and cast, this sure promises to be another one of Roland Reber’s envelope-pushing films one can’t wait to see. And I’ve been reliably informed that there are some nude scenes in it as well, including Marina Anna Eich. I will keep you guys updated on further developments on this exciting project.

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Alessandra Muccioli in “Ce n’è per Tutti” [2009 Italy]

Posted on September 5, 2011 by TR

Luciano Melchionna had chosen an unusual subject for his comedy, “Ce n’è per Tutti” [Eng. Title: We All Get Our Share]. Unusual because it is essentially about a young man who finds life pointless and decides to die. Despite its macabre subject, it is actually a hilarious comedy with excellent characterisation, well written and executed.

One night Gianluca scales the walls of the Colosseum unnoticed – by daybreak he’s perched at the top looking down on passers by with calm indifference. He had decided to jump off the landmark in broad view. Indeed he gets the whole nation’s attention as a TV show telecasts this live – they also track down his family and try to get an interview and appeal. The reasons for Gianluca’s regrettable choice is not presented formally – it is left for us viewers to deduce from snippets of his life through flashbacks from various friends and acquaintances as they head toward the Colosseum to try and dissuade him. His grandmother (played by Stefania Sandrelli) gets there first, managing to slip through the security cordon to sit next to him. She’s also the one Gianluca feels closest to among all the family. They have a picnic there and talk about the past – and a clear picture of his parents and childhood emerges. While outwardly there’s nothing unusual about his circumstances – his upbringing, friends or environment, we begin to pick little clues for his decision as the film progresses.

This is an intelligent film dealing with life and society in general, and presented with a refined sense of humour. The film is very well directed, the cinematography and editing is top notch, and I also loved the eclectic soundtrack. All main actors give a decent enough performance and there’s really nothing negative I could say about this film. The disappointing IMDB ratings bely its quality and it deserves a far better reputation. The DVD extras come with an engaging ‘Making of’ (they can sometimes be boring but I’d recommend everyone to watch this one). Needless to say, Recommended Viewing..!

Amazon.it DVD Link

There’s only one instance of nudity in the film – a post-coital scene between ‘cougar’ Claudia, a has-been b-grade actress who still dreams of being ‘discovered’, and her one-night conquest. She’s woken up by her friend Daniele to be told Gianluca is about to jump off the Colosseum – he’s a friend of both and occasional lover of Claudia. She listens in disbelief and goes back to her toy for the night. Towards the end we see Claudia asking her pushy “neanderthal” friend to go and make the coffee by himself. Claudia is played by Alessandra Muccioli.



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Marina Anna Eich & co in “24/7 The passion of Life” [2005, Germany]

Posted on September 4, 2011 by TR

Continuing Roland Reber’s filmography, his 2005 drama “24/7 The Passion of Life” uses BDSM and swinging themes to propagate his theories on sexuality and meaning of life.

The film, if anything is educational. Unlike the clichéd view of what we see of BDSM in mainstream films, 24/7 delves into what actually the participants aim to achieve, which by the look of things is a lot more than the end orgasm. To say the film is not easy viewing is an understatement – it is not particularly pleasant to watch or hear what the film is trying to say. Some of the arguments made are provocative, incendiary even. But then again, at least readers of this blog know that films or any art needn’t necessarily have to be pleasant. The best way to approach it is to see this as another interesting view-point, whether or not we agree with what Mr. Reber has to say.

As in many of his films, he uses a mouthpiece, here in the form of dominatrix Lady Maria to air his views, most of which are philosophical – strongly nihilistic, with echoes of not only Nietzche, but some pre-biblical ideas too. Having watched this very involving film only recently, I’m still not sure whether this should have been made as a feature film, or published as an academic work – there’s simply too much in it. One has to set aside time, both to watch the film, and later to digest it. It is nevertheless a bold experiment, one that can only be made by self-financed film companies like WTP International. Thank ‘God’ for independent cinema – Amen..! 😉

Storyline:
I will keep it to a minimum as it is not so relevant for this film. Reber uses two distinct characters to play out his theories – one is heiress to a luxury hotel Eva, and the other is Magdalena, a sociologist pursuing her doctorate by working as dominatrix Lady Maria. When Eva admits to being sexually unfulfilled, Magdalena encourages her to explore her sexuality first and find out what she really wants. She advises that if sexual fulfilment is her main problem, her starting point should not be S&M but a swingers club. Eva’s journey of discovery takes her full-circle before Magdalena (as Lady Maria) espouses what she sees as the true meaning of existence and identity – that one must create oneself anew, by being the father and mother of their own self.

Technically, I think the film is well done, but I couldn’t help feeling that it tends to occasionally over-emphasise the obvious (both in terms of screenplay and editing). However, what stands out is the performance of the actress playing Eva, Marina Anna Eich, with her ‘Alice in Wonderland’ like curiosity as she savours every sensation and situation she comes across enthusiastically. Ms. Eich also appears in some explicit sex scenes, and I can confirm that none of these use body-double (also read her exclusive interview). Wolfgang Edelmayer’s sound track is appealing and greatly helps the film narrative. As with all of Reber’s films, many in the cast double up as crew as well, with Mira Gittner as Director of Photography and Editor, and Marina Anna Eich and Patricia Koch as co-producers.

The DVD includes some great extras like the short film, “Dann nenn es halt Liebe“, a TV feature, and audience interaction with Mr. Reber and Ms. Eich during its festival premiere. If you are looking for something out of the ordinary, something challenging, 24/7 is definitely Recommended Viewing.

The film can be purchased from Amazon.de*.

Official site and Trailer
Amazon.de DVD Link

* The brand new DVD release of “24/7 The Passion of Life” also includes English and Spanish subtitles.
Dialogue Sheet in English
(for those with the older DVD who can’t follow German)


 

 

Compilation 1: Marina Anna Eich
These scenes are predominantly of Eva exploring her sexuality.

Marina Anna Eich in 24-7 The Passion of Life

Marina Anna Eich immerses herself into her character as she explores Eva’s journey of self-discovery.

 

Compilation 2: Mira Gittner, Claire Plaut, Marina Anna Eich, Patricia Koch, and others

Additional scenes of nudity by Mira Gittner, Claire Plaut, Marina Anna Eich, Patricia Koch from the German drama, “24/7 The Passion of Life”.

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Victoria Abril in Pedro Almodóvar’s “Átame!” [1990 Spain]

Posted on August 31, 2011 by TR

It’s about time this little gem went into the blog – Pedro Almodóvar made this much misunderstood black comedy “Átame!” [Eng. Title: Tie me Up! Tie me Down!] as a scathing attack on the concept of marriage and conventional love. While outwardly it may appear as a ‘romantic’ albeit twisted comedy, the irony will not be lost for those looking at it from the protagonists’ perspective.

Storyline:
Delinquent Ricky is released from asylum after the authorities decide it is now okay for him to re-enter society. And Ricky heads straight to the film studios where Marina Osorio is shooting a ‘mainstream’ film with a veteran director. He had been obsessing over her for the past year, since a one-night stand with her at a club – he had escaped from the asylum at the time for a night’s fun. He wants Marina to love him as much as he, get married, and start a family – to live a “normal” life as he puts it.

When Marina spurns his overtures – she wouldn’t even give him a second look – he breaks into her apartment and kidnaps her. His thinking – if she gets to spend time with him, she will get to know him better, and certainly fall in love. Bad boy Ricky – but we soon realise he is not the only one with issues. Former porn actress Marina is also desperately trying to kick her drug habit – she’d just got a lucky break to work on a non-porn film because the wheelchair-bound director (wonder if Almodóvar was thinking of Antonioni when he wrote the screenplay!) is also her fan – damaged people both, the victim and the perpetrator. He gags and ties Marina up every time he needs to leave the apartment – mostly to buy drugs for her ‘toothache’. Ricky doesn’t take sexual advantage of her situation, but Marina nevertheless despises him and tries to escape on a few occasions, unsuccessfully. But one day when he returns bleeding after being robbed and beaten, she pities his misfortune, for it was on her account that he went out looking for drugs. And she falls in love..!

One can easily look at Marina’s change of heart as a symptom of her discovering that someone does indeed care about her in a true sense, or even as a case of Stockholm Syndrome. But Almodóvar goes beyond that and asks us to question the rationale of being ‘tied-down’, to conform, to loose oneself in another person’s life. The message is actually made clear by the film’s provocative ending, which I will not reveal just in case you’re thinking of watching the film.

The film was slated by many critics when it came out, but I’m sure many were made to eat their words upon second viewing. The screenplay, direction, cinematography, editing, and the performances by the main actors are superb, as is the awesome sound track by the legendary Ennio Morricone. Needless to say, Highly Recommended Viewing..!

The cheapest DVD is a letter-boxed PAL version with hard-coded English subtitles (avoid them as I purchased without knowing). I was lucky to later get one from Mexico (from which this compilation was made) but it’s not available now. But there is a version from Spain with optional Spanish subtitles – this is the one I recommend for the moment:
Amazon DVD Link

Off-topic note:
Let me digress a bit here with the fact that after this film, Pedro Almodóvar and Antonio Banderas finally got back working together in Almodóvar’s latest and much anticipated film, “La Piel que Habito” [Eng. Title: The Skin I Live in]. I watched it at the cinema last week (it was a toss-up between this and “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” – and I don’t regret my decision one bit) – I can assure you that here we see Almodóvar at his original twisted best that made his films so unique. If this film is running anywhere close to you – DO NOT miss it! It also has plenty of nudity, which I will of course review when it comes out on DVD.


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Belén Rodríguez in “Se sei così ti dico sì” [2011, Italy]

Posted on August 30, 2011 by TR

Eugenio Cappuccio’s commedia all’italiana “Se sei così ti dico sì” [Eng. Trans: I’ll say yes if it pleases you] is a feel-good comedy about grabbing life’s opportunities as they come. While it is nothing but light entertainment, it is nevertheless decently written and directed with adequate technical merit, and the performances aren’t too bad either.

Piero Cicala is a has-been pop star who’d had a single hit during the early 80’s. He’s now a chef in what once was his, but now ex-wife’s seafood restaurant in his home town. A TV executive comes looking for Piero to make him appear on a nostalgic TV show called “The Best Years”. After some deliberation he accepts, provided the producer pays him an additional fee. Just as he opens the door to his assigned hotel suite in Rome, supermodel Talita Cortes who had also booked at the hotel enters his room to escape from paparazzi. She instantly makes herself at home leaving Piero to occupy the bathroom. But after she watches him on TV, she develops a liking for him, and asks him to accompany her to the US for the weekend for her girlfriend’s birthday, promising to introduce him to some important people at the party. As he gets to know more about the business savvy Talita, he begins to re-evaluate his life’s choices as well. The film has an open ending allowing for possibilities, however far-fetched.

Amazon.it DVD Link


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