Im Keller

As a photographer, I admit that certain aspects of certain fetishistic sex can be, uh, "photogenic". However, the real deal in suburbia is far from photogenic and, quite frankly, kinda boring. Wait, not merely "kinda", but EXTREMELY boring.

That said, this is a documentary about people that are not only sex fetishists, but exhibitionists as well. Everyone, even the non-sex fetishists, puts forth their weirdest crap to be filmed for the sake of "being in a film". Of course, they're all kinda clueless and operate on a very base-level; which never adds up to anything remotely interesting.

If you're here for the sex, just rent porn. If you think this is some kind of anthropological big reveal about the human condition... forget it!

When it comes to "In The Basement" - If Austrian director, Ulrich Seidl was actually trying to prove to the viewer that his fellow citizens were, indeed, all a bunch of imbeciles, then, yes, he certainly achieved his desired goal, commendably.

I mean, had even one of these certified kooks been shown doing something inspiring, or interesting, or worth remembering down in their basements, then I wouldn't have formed such a negative perspective of Austrian people, as a whole, while watching this documentary.

But Seidl sure put these people in an unfavourable and dislikable light.

And, on top of that - I can't believe that these apparently "regular citizens" actually agreed to expose their stupid side to the general public, as they did..... Like, if their neighbours didn't already know about the nonsense that went on in these peoples' basements - Well - They certainly do now.

To be honest here - Since this wasn't a "hidden camera" production, and since these people knew that all this "odd" activity of theirs was being filmed - I think that, for the most part, all of this quirkiness was, in fact, pretty much staged for effect and overall shock-value.

This is a sort of documentary about various people in their basements. I say sort of because some of this movie is obviously staged. Plus in the end credits are listings for Foley (Sound Effects) artists & editors so some sound effects were added after filming.

There are no real run-of-the-mill basements & people here. All are in Austria. One is an adult woman that plays with a doll as if it's a real baby. Another is a man that's basement is full of Nazi & Hitler memorabilia he's very proud of and is also a musician and has his bandmates over. Two of those people were fired from their jobs after appearing in this film. Another man has a gun range and teaches a gun class. Then there are several separate Master/Mistress & Slave basements & participant. They show some of their play. There are a few scenes that are just people standing/sitting still in their basements, usually looking like deer in the headlights.

Yes a lot but not all is interesting. Yes a lot but not all is weird. But some things are a bit too much. Not everyone will like this movie. Not everyone will hate it. So I can neither recommend or dissuade from watching.

Saw this movie in an International movie festival, while it sounded very unexpected - it really was. Seeing many people leaving before the end kept me thinking about how long am I going to survive in this madness which is actually happening in Austrian basements. While some of it I could take with humor and actually smile about the old generations habits and being just a little naive for their age and location. Few characters left me wondering - why the hell its not illegal in Austria to be a completely brainless person ? From the other side - a complete mind opener about the society we live in where everything is allowed and no morals exist beyond and past your basement or private property.

IN THE BASEMENT, Ulrich Seidl goes downstairs and finds creepy dolls, Nazi man caves, cock and ball torture and gives viewers a tour of the private hobbies practiced. Seidl continues his studies on taboos, social boundaries, the human soul's darkness and his beloved Austria. It benefits from a truly intelligent scenario which uses the form of the fable to give the spectator a complex social discourse. Between taboo and philosophy, the story follows the different things people do in there basement. Under the basement, Im Keller is a documentary film eyeing on different experiences, but also symbolizes here in a threatening way. I enjoyed the film's extremely mannered style. When characters are being "good," the acting is melodramatic, but when they're in the basement it's weird, they're often incoherent and loud, or the film heightens the viscerality.