an intense, disturbing and bleak drama of ecstasy and insanity, all set in a world where, if there is a God at all, it truly requires a leap of faith into the dark to grasp Him.
Comment
06/15/07
Requiem (2006)
88 %
Reviews Counted: 34 Fresh: 30 Rotten:4 Average Rating: 7.4/10
Consensus:
This harrowing, naturalistic drama holds you in its grip through Huller's intense performance.
Rated: 12A
Runtime: 1 hr 33 mins
Theatrical Release: 17-11-2006
Synopsis: Michaela has grown up in a deeply religious family, in a small town in Germany, in the 1970's. Despite her long battle with epilepsy, she leaves home and secures her first taste of freedom while studying at the university. Her budding love for Stefan and her friendship with Hanna crack open the... [More]
Genre: Foreign Films
Starring: Sandra Huller, Burghart Klaussner, Imogen Kogge, Anna Blomeier, Nicholas Reinke
Director: Hans-Christian Schmid
Reviews
Top Critic
A tragic tale of teen rebellion and misplaced faith, this is a sober and sobering account of a young girl's untimely end, made enthralling by great performances and restrained direction.
12/30/06
Top Critic
A naturalistic and thrillingly powerful film, with a stand-out performance from Hüller at its centre.
11/21/06
Top Critic
The movie ends a little too abruptly, but it features a heartrending performance from Sandra Huller that brought her the best actress award at this year's Berlin Film Festival.
11/18/06
Top Critic
Based on the same story as The Exorcism of Emily Rose, this is a far more accurate and ultimately much more frightening version of events, with an award-winning performance from Huller.
11/02/06
Quietly devastating and unbearably moving, this is a soul-searching classic.
10/30/06
Top Critic
Progresses in a natural, unforced style that's increasingly creepy and ultimately emotionally shattering.
10/18/06
A convincing portrayal of a helpless soul wavering between fear and faith, and the madness of murder being perpetrated in the name of Christ.
03/10/07
What matters in Requiem amounts to the fine performances, Schmid's assured hand, and the magnificent rustic scenery.
03/01/07
Sandra Hueller leads a fine cast and gives a textured performance as wallflower Michaela who is suddenly freed when she goes out into the world, only to be done in by her inner, psychosis-driven demons.
12/30/06
[Huller] combines the raw physicality of Michaela’s seizures with an emotional confusion as she ponders the cause of her attacks and how to react to them.
12/30/06
Working from an economical and intelligent script by Bernd Lange , Schmid directs his first feature with the easy conviction that eluded the makers of the preposterous Emily Rose.
11/24/06
Stage actress Sandra Huller delivers a stunning, understated performance...
11/17/06
Top Critic
The nonsensationalistic results are also somewhat ho-hum -- and oddly less convincing than Friedkin's lurid mess, let alone the elegant satanism sagas of Tourneur and Polanski.
11/16/06
The confusion and panic and everyday interactions in Requiem feel honest and true-to-life, which has nothing to do with how factual it is, or isn't.
11/16/06
What cannot be debated is the strength of Huller's naturalistic lead performance, a frighteninglyn intense turn that brings to mind Emily Watson's work in Breaking the Waves.
11/03/06
In lesser hands, Requiem would seem merely bleak, but Schmid makes a rigorously urgent and compelling film out of Michaela's odyssey.
11/02/06
Top Critic
[Sandra Hüller's] intensity is so compelling you truly have no idea if those demons are real.
10/25/06
Requiem isn't a horror movie so much as a thwarted coming-of-age story, like Carrie without the bloody reckoning.
10/20/06
Related Forums
Hans-Christian Schmid's REQUIEM opens on Friday, Oct. 20, 2006 @ the IFC Center in NY
by: REEL_REVIEWER 10/20/06
by: REEL_REVIEWER 10/20/06
Hans-Christian Schmid's REQUIEM opens on Friday, Oct. 20, 2006 @ the IFC Center in NY
by: REEL_REVIEWER 10/20/06
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Hans-Christian Schmid's REQUIEM opens on Friday, Oct. 20, 2006 @ the IFC Center in NY
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Hans-Christian Schmid's REQUIEM opens on Friday, Oct. 20, 2006 @ the IFC Center in NY
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