WaxBellaAmours Is the Cannes controversy-meter remarkably esoteric, or is that we Americans are so callous and cynical that we never bother to read between the lines anymore? Be that as it may, with plenty of careful analyzing, "Falscher Bekenner" at no point seems to live up to the hyped controversy it supposedly brought to Cannes in 2005, a puzzlingly drab and aimless movie that rather lives up to it's glum American re-title ("Low Profile").Building on familiar themes of Bourgeoise angst and subsequent sexual liberation (kind of), admittedly it's a film not without it's surface-level interests. It starts out with a grabber, as a haunting shot of a desolate off-the-highway road focuses in on a teenage drifter, who ultimately walks by a totaled car, where supposedly a brutal hit-and-run has left the driver dead in a gory mess. Stunned, he does nothing but pick up a scrap of the remaining engine.Just out of school, the drifter turns out to be Armin Steebe, a product of the German suburbs with minimal ambition. Persisentily pressured by his caring but somewhat nagging parents to find a good job, he endures interview after interview with every haughty interviewer along with it, every one with the same fruitless outcome. Getting mighty sick of it, his aforementioned highway encounter soon provokes his first act of rebellion: claiming responsibility for the crime which he did not commit.Pretending to fill out more applications and going to more and more bizarre job interviews by sunrise, he partakes in roadside sexual fantasies and petty vandalism way after sundown. As the days get shorter and the nights get much hotter, as he goes on living in his suburban neighborhood as if he's doing nothing out of the ordinary.If you seem confused about what exactly is going on, don't worry about being the only one: this is about as far and coherent as the story gets. The plot seems simple enough, and perhaps due to it's seemingly direct purposes that's why "Falscher Bekenner" becomes pointlessly convoluted, becoming enamored with endless false conclusions, dreamlike situations and graphic sex scenes to try and enlighten a story lacking clear logic to an already vague argument (supposedly the soul-numbing effects of the modern suburban wasteland, or something about youth's fascination with crime. Hey, it could even be a coming-out movie.) at hand. It spends a lot of time creating numerous symbols, both tangible and surrealistically allegorical, but they don't seem to be really symbolizing anything of interest. The most fatal flaw, however, is how the filmmakers paint all it's characters in a rough shade of vanilla. There's hardly any distinguishable traits to help understand their purpose, and how the secondary characters (especially the confused relationship between Armin and his rather normal- perhaps too normal- family) catalyze the already under-developed lead character's "plight" never comes into focus. How are we supposed to identify with this young almost-adult's rebellion, with little sense of the world he's living in or the prominent figures around him that help comprise it? Many people drop in and out of the movie (including Armin's sort-of girlfriend Katja, and a strange, affluent visitor who for some reason finds pleasure in watching the protagonist eat brownies) and seem to exist for no reason whatsoever. They ultimately just seem like prolonged padding to an already thin story with pointless subplots that continue to prove the movie is drawing a total blank about where to go next.And even a movie that supposedly toys with reality (especially with Armin's nightly exploits), it ends with a literal, almost moralizing head-scratcher that seems to halt questions to a "story" that does little but put it's viewer in a state of pointlessly exhausted perplexion.Without any color, it's impossible to shade anything vital in.

gradyharp 'Falscher Bekenner' ('I Am Guilty') is a strange little film that seems to beg our indulgence in looking at and pondering the state of mind of our newly graduated college youths who have had everything provided for them to prepare for life - and are clueless as to how to begin fitting into the world. Writer and director Christoph Hochhäusler appears to have a rather bleak look at this generation - or is it the generation that produced the 'new adults' that he is questioning? Armin Steeb (Constantin von Jascheroff) is a good-looking young fresh college graduate living with his doting parents (Manfred Zapatka and Victoria Trauttmansdorff) who are concerned about Armin's inertia about supporting himself. They assist him in applying for jobs, prepare him for job interviews, and obviously love him and wish for his happiness. Armin is bored: he can barely tolerate the entire family's normalcy, longing for something to light a fire in his life. While walking alone one night he encounters a wrecked automobile containing a dead driver and while he stops to inspect, he soon moves on carrying with him a metal object from the site of the accident. Out of boredom he writes to the police that he is responsible for the accident of what happens to have been the demise of a public official. He takes the found metal object to the police station then leaves without identifying himself.Armin continues fruitless job interviews but also spends time in front of the glow of his computer monitor having fantasies: we see him defiling public roadside restrooms with graffiti, having bizarre physical liaisons with motorcycle men, and hurtful encounters with love interest contenders. Are these real or are they the products of an unfocused mind that wants more to life than the humdrum day job? Eventually Armin is arrested for his confessed 'crime' - or is he? We are left not knowing how much of what has been on the screen is imagined and what is real.Christoph Hochhäusler knows his craft: he creates atmospheres that suggest the burring of a mind in flux, he paces his tale well, and he directs a strong cast fluently. While many may view this experimental film with disgust, that may be one of the goals of Hochhäusler. Perhaps he is holding a mirror to the quality of life we have created in the 21st century for our young people who have been raised in an unstructured environment. In retrospect the ennui created here may be a more pointed existentialist statement than we at first recognize. In German with English subtitles. Grady Harp

bluestorm100 I watched this last night at the Houston International Film Festival, also know as World Fest. I thought it was a bit strange, though I liked it. The German title, literally translated into English means False Confessor, and I find it upsetting that the title was changed for American audiences. The story line seemed flat and I had trouble distinguishing reality from dreams. I speak a tiny bit of German, not very much, but I could tell that the subtitles were a bit off. For example, in English we say things a certain way, and people know what we mean. In German, they say things and everyone knows what they mean, but when translated into English, it confuses us, because their common phrases differ from ours in their word choice. I think that it might have been better if the subtitles were translated literally, with the verbs put in the order of an English sentence, of course. Sometimes they would say one word, and the subtitles read the societal equivalent instead of the actually literal definition, which might have helped improve the story a little. I have to admit though, I found myself very confused during parts. I expected this to be an average foreign film, but it turned out to be an artsy, abstract foreign film. It was a good movie though. I have no problem with abstract movies, except for the fact that I have trouble telling what they really mean. I did actually get something out of this movie though and I could tell what, at least part of it's, underlying meaning was. It's about how dull things are, we leave school, we apply for jobs, they're all the same, everyone does the same thing, and we live out our existence in a dull, tired world of repetition. I could also interpret it as a young person, dulled with life, not wanting to conform to the dull existence that society forces us to fit. It is as if Armin is bored, he's tired of his dull life in the suburbs and is forced to pretend he committed crimes, and eventually more, to fill the void he has, the need for excitement and thrills. Interesting movie. I will say this though, I did see some symbolism in the mask scene.

johno-21 I saw this film at the 2006 Palm Springs International Film Festival. I don't understand how they take titles of films from foreign countries and change the title for American audiences. The distributors took Falshe Bekenner which I guess would translate into False Confessions and changed it to Low Profile. This is a disturbing story about a bright but bored and troubled teen named Armin who comes from a loving family. There is a lot happening in this movie that may have different meanings and you are left wondering about several things. What is real and what is imagined. What did Armin do and what didn't he do. I couldn't figure out why he is so troubled or why he is rebelling when his parents seem like very caring and loving people. This is a very interesting story and is very stylized with a great sound. I would give this a 7.0 out of 10 and would like to see it again.