DVD Lose Your Head

Lose your head

This was one of my favourite films of last year. Patrick Schukmann's script is superb, as is his co-direction with Stefan Westerwelle. The film's Act I Exposition is long but intriguing —it almost seems loose, haphazard, indulgent.

But then, like a grapple hook, it links us to the main plot. We immediately understand how the characters are linked – and why – and the hair on the back of your neck rises. You're locked into the predicament and this tension doesn't flag until the end.

Luis's (Fernando Tielve) obsession with the older Viktor (Marko Madic) is at the heart of this thriller. It is explored with a fresh, erotic eye. Schukmann explained how some scenes were a direct homage to Hitchock's Vertigo and others were subtle references to Roeg's Don't Look Now. These were neat touches to satisfy the movie buff.

Tielve gives a great performance as the lead: sexy, vulnerable, real, adventurous. Madic's charisma also pulls us in, and he cuts a fine balance between older lover and potential psycho.

Berlin, as a backdrop, was shown in gritty authenticity. What I loved was the writer's playfulness with coincidence and the absurd. Luis's tragic reunion with Grit (Samia Muriel Chancrin) is a case in point. It reminds me of Patricia Highsmith in its authentic, non-formulaic approach.

And it has one of the best lines of dialogue. "He threw me in the river and I fell in love with him," says Luis of Victor.