Import Export

Ulrich Seidl (Dog Days) is no stranger to controversy, unsurprising perhaps given that he challenges us by making us confront the less commendable traits of human nature. But although his films tell individual stories, they are profoundly political and moral, for he rests his critical gaze firmly at the level of social failure.

In Import Export his grim but often darkly funny snapshots of life in a changing Europe take little heed of national boundaries, suggesting that the malaise goes deep and wide. Olga, a nurse from the Ukraine, abandons her life to look for a better one in the West, but ends up working as a cleaning woman in a geriatric ward in Austria. Moving in the opposite direction is Paul, an unemployed security guard from Vienna who heads East with his sleazy stepfather to seek a new life in the Ukraine. Both youngsters are trying to improve their circumstances and find happiness, but this doesn't come easily. Using non-professional actors and blurring the line between documentary and fiction, Seidl often gives us scenes that are appalling to watch. But he also finds moments of true compassion and tenderness, all the more remarkable amidst the desolation he reveals.

Sandra Hebron