I am a fan of Marilyn Manson; his music touches me, his autobiography related to me on various levels, and his artwork is erotically horrific. When I heard of Doppleherz, I felt I would be in store for yet another delightfully delerious dose of Marilyn's artistic endeavors. How wrong was I?
The film is nauseatingly repetitive, obviously on purpose, and wreaks of imitation. I felt as if I were watching a failed attempt at recreating the bizarre atmosphere of abstract German filmmaking and after fifteen minutes or so, I realized that was exactly what I was watching. As talented as Marilyn Manson (aka Brian Warner) is, this 30+ minute short film is pure uninspired, generic abstract filmmaking.
Honestly I feel that were the background music looped throughout the entire film not the opening track to the companion album, The Golden Age of Grotesque, and every line in the film a lyric from said album, this film may have packed more of a punch. Sadly, the only punch I felt was in the stomach as I quite literally found my self vomiting after watching half the film.
Marilyn Manson is a talented musician, an entertaining writer, and a gifted artist. The moral of the story is to stick to doing what you do best, and leave all else to those who know how to handle the craft.
