Back

Paradise: Love reaches its dizzying heights in terms of its brevity and authenticity using non actors to bring out the ugliest side of humanity. It deals with the uncomfortable subject of sex tourism. It's icky when it's the first world old white men & third world young women. So it gets equally gross when it's old white women & young black men. Seidl ups the ante w/its African setting because this kind of tourism is usually in the Caribbeans I was told. Shot on location w/mostly local people and non actors, Paradise is a two-hour, all-access glimpse into how the colonization still perpetuating dehumanizing effects. There are a lot of humor in the film but it's mostly oppressively sad & depressing. The most cringe worthy part is probably the scene where four droopy white women trying to manage the young black stripper to get it up. What Seidl achieves here is truly commendable. But dang, it's one of the saddest movies I've ever seen. #ulrichseidl #paradisetrilogy