“Bedways”

This German film, Bedways, by the director RP Kahl was a fascinating movie to watch.

From a psychoanalytical perspective it was full of the standard issues in the field such as the primal scene, inhibition, voyeurism, and exhibitionism.

One of the most famous proponents of the primal scene was of course Sigmund Freud.  Essentially it is a child witnessing his/her parents engaged in sexual activity.  For the child this is titillating, exciting, and envy producing.  In this film there are quite a few scenes where the main character in the movie is looking at the actors as we are watching it unfold.  The main protagonist is in some ways representing us as we are watching the film.  But the lines between reality and fiction become blurred in the movie.  It is a film about the potential shooting of a film.  And the main character that proposes to shoot this film also ends up being a character in story that she tells.  It is the story of her that she is telling but displaces it on to her actors.  They are somewhat aware that this is happening.  They become frustrated reflecting the frustration that the main character feels about her own issues.    The question that keeps being asked then is when are we going to do it but one is left with the question of who is doing what to whom and who does it really satisfy because in the end there was the issue of no resolution.

Exhibitionism and voyeurism are also prominent parts of the movie where we look at the characters having sex as voyeurs do but we are not the only voyeurs.   The main character is playing the role of exhibitionist and also voyeur as we see the movie from her viewpoint mostly until she too becomes the character but she was also always a character.   But the movie is not only about the things that I have mentioned.

It is also about inhibition.  One clearly gets to see the inhibitions of the main character.  She is an observer as we are observers throughout the movie.  But she also becomes a participant only briefly when her inhibitions are broken down.  This is only a temporary respite because in the end we are left with a coldness of the act.  It becomes functional, without emotion.  This comes out in many ways such as when she is talking to her potential producer and she offers sex three times for the backing but no kissing as if that would add something intimate to it.  Another instance of this occurred where after engaging in sex in a sex club the two protagonists leave and go their separate ways with a polite kiss on the cheek acknowledging that they knew each other but with no further intimacy.

I would also like to mention the soundtrack in the movie.  It had an assortment of artist but the one that stood out for me were Sissimetall especially one song, which had a melodic, and comforting beat at first and then builds to a crescendo.

At first glance this movie would appear to be rather straightforward but as you can see from this brief analysis it much more sophisticated than one may suspect.