Harpoon (3 Stars)

This is the 17th film in the Stuttgart Fantasy Film Festival.

This is a minimalist low budget film with a claustrophobic atmosphere. Three young people go on a boat trip: Jonah, his best friend Richard, and Richard's girlfriend Sasha. Jonah has bought Richard a harpoon for his birthday, but every time someone uses the word "harpoon" Richard corrects him and says it's a spear gun. Is there a difference?

Tensions are high, because Richard has recently discovered that Sasha has had an affair with Jonah. Friends become enemies, and the closeness makes things only worse.

This is a fascinating film as a character study of people under stress. The voiceover narrative annoyed me at first, but I grew used to it. What I didn't like is that all three of the characters are unpleasant. I wanted to sympathise with one of them against the others, but they equally repulsed me.

The narrator tells us that according to Aristotle there are three sorts of friendships.

1. There are friendships of use, when people need each other. An example is work colleagues.

2. There are friendships of pleasure, when people enjoy one another's company.

3. There are friendships of respect, when people deeply admire one another. This is the most enduring form of friendship.

The narrator adds a fourth group, which is applicable to Jonah and Richard.

4. There are friendships of history, when people used to be close, but now they just go through the motions of liking one another out of habit.

I'll add a fifth group.

5. There are Facebook friends, which are people who care nothing for one another and argue every day.