A Thought of Ecstasy (1 Star)

Sometimes I think I'm not cut out to be a film reviewer. Today I watched a film premiere presented by the director Rolf Peter Kahl, or RP Kahl, as he likes to call himself. He was such a nice guy and I immediately liked him as he excitedly talked about his film. The trouble is that I found the film exceedingly dull. I felt like I ought to give the film a higher rating out of sympathy for the director, three stars at least. No. I have to be hard. I've given the film the only rating it deserves.

Frank, also played by Rolf Peter Kahl, is a man from Frankfurt in Germany. He reads a newly published book called "Desert LA" by Ross Sinclair. He immediately recognises himself in the story. 20 years ago he spent some time in Los Angeles and had an affair with a stripper called Marie. For Marie it was a great romance, but for him it was just a casual affair, and he broke off contact when he returned to Germany.

Frank goes back to America to find Marie. The publisher refuses to disclose personal details about the author's name, but she says she's sure the book is a work of fiction. Frank visits strip clubs on the outskirts of Los Angeles, in the middle of the desert. He almost dies when his car breaks down, but a stripper rescues him and lets him live in her home. He pays for his stay by filming sado-masochistic scenes that the strippers perform with customers.

I can see what the director is trying to do. He's imitating the style of David Lynch. He's trying to make a David Lynch film, but he fails. The cinematography is fascinating, sometimes bizarre, sometimes beautiful, and the musical soundtrack is excellent, but the film plods so slowly that it's just not interesting. The characters say their lines woodenly without any hint of emotion. The sex scenes are so unerotic that not even a 14-year-old boy would be aroused. The film is dull. That's the only word to describe it. Dull.