Review of Wetlands (2013) by Manny C — 03 Feb 2015
Not one to view with the kids. Or grandma. Or maybe even your spouse. Wetlands aims to freak you out hard and make dirty and filthy as much fun as the early romps from John Waters. Lars Von Trier has nothing on Wetlands.
Where else will you find a film that sees a teen girl wiping a toilet seat with her crotch. Wetlands, adapted from the provocative best-seller from German tv personality Charlotte Roche, is far more than two hours of gross out set pieces.
Sure, young filmmaker David Wnendt, who wrote the screenplay with Claus Falkenberg, shares the novel's preoccupation with vaginal fluids. But 18-year-old sexual insurgent and narrator Helen Memel, is no prude.
Credit that to actress Carla Juri, who is blazingly brilliant as Helen. Whether she's attempting to turn guys on by dabbing her own 'pussy mucous' with her bff Corinna (Marlen Kruse) or using vegetables in ways that are not exactly nutritious, Juri is raw and riveting defined.
It's Helen's homemade remedies to treat her hemorrhoids that has her end up in the hospital and gives her incentive to reconcile her divorced parents (Meret Becker and Axel Milberg). Sweet yea? It actually is, not to mention deliciously liberating and wickedly comic.
Fuck Fifty Shades of Grey, no way does it outdo Wetlands. And this no-nonsense gem refuses to indulge in petty schmaltz. But don't mistake Wetlands for shameless porn. It has a deep, bracing human side that is unmistakable.
In a just world, Juri would be competing for a Best Actress Oscar right now. She's that damn good. go ahead, dive in.
This review of Wetlands (2013) was written by Manny C on 03 February 2015.
Wetlands has generally received positive reviews.
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