As fun and scary as it is to think about, we probably aren’t living in a matrix. But cinematically speaking, we’ve certainly seen the raucous superhero fare and Oscar-winning “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” as evidenced by more extravagant films. We live in a post-Matrix world reveled in the possibilities of a multiverse. The German-imported “universal theory” has an air of fascination and doom. Set against the eerie beauty of the Swiss Alps, the film is a post-World War II art thriller about a quantum physics whiz and a mysterious jazz pianist.
Please call me Blanc Noir. Or hi-fi science fiction. Or matinee material like Niels Bohr or Erwin Schrödinger. Indeed, it’s a dreamy pastiche of creepy, existential films from the era. Co-writer and director Tim Kreger effortlessly evokes the chilling unease of Antonioni, Welles, and Tarkovsky, while incorporating plenty of Hitchcockian flair, most of which is accompanied by an impressive, full-scale orchestral score (Diego Ramos Rodríguez) and may be Bernard’s long-lost symphony. Mr. Hermann’s. (Roland Stuprich’s black-and-white cinematography isn’t bad either.)
Kräger’s first scene is a cheesy ’70s talk show in which the ragtag writer Johannes (Jan Bülow) insists that his best-selling novel about parallel worlds is not entirely fiction, but the host’s I was met with lip-service ridicule. We then travel back in time to the black and white widescreen of the early 60’s. Meanwhile, bright and awkward PhD candidate Johannes (who doesn’t look all that spotty) is working on his dissertation while traveling by train with his grumpy mentor, Dr. Julius Straten (Hans Zischler) . Meeting at a ski lodge.
Director Johannes doesn’t like “metaphysical nonsense,” and Young’s energy is particularly directed toward universal wave functions that suggest the existence of multiple realities. At the hotel, Johannes finds a like-minded person in Strazen’s archenemy, the bombastic Blumberg (Gottfried Blitfuss). However, he is also attracted to Karin (Olivia Ross), a cool, beautiful and mysterious musician. Karin, who probably knows the deepest secrets of her own childhood, likes to kiss Johannes by telling him things like “leave me alone” before cooing and saying “be careful” seconds before kissing him.
From strange deaths and an elevator that suddenly stops being an elevator, to a rash of scabies infections plaguing guests, to the discovery of underground tunnels, something is truly wrong at the conference. Not to mention the distinct possibility that no one is who they say they are. Or so it was. Or will it be? (And you thought there were too many distractions when you were in school.)
You don’t need a master’s degree in wave-particle duality to enjoy the cosmic playground of chance and fate that Kreger has in mind. That said, the cinematographer, making his feature debut, doesn’t quite match the subconscious-melting brilliance of David Lynch. “The Universal Theory” is too long, and no matter how deliberately bloated its wall-to-wall retrospective score is, it’s ultimately a work of head over heart. The performances are also more of a semblance of a full characterization, and certainly, it’s perfectly in line with the complexity being dramatized.
Still, Kroeger is a talented stylist with the language and pacing of classic films. He knows how to play with its familiar structure and story enough to keep us on board with his plot to the end, as he leaves snow-covered Switzerland and moves on to the rest of the story (this contains the “movie” of Johannes’s book), which mischievously completes the cycle that life is both a simulation and a movie). All in all, it’s a timeline or two of affairs, regrets, memories, ghosts (and movie love), even on a double bill with one of Lars von Trier’s early career sandboxes like 1991 There is no discomfort. Zentropa. ” There’s nothing mind-blowing about The Universal Theory, but once its carefully crafted notes of intrigue and chaos play out, you’ll find that this arthouse idiosyncrasy is alive and well.
“Universal Theory”
German, French, Swiss German, with subtitles
Not rated
Running time: 1 hour 58 minutes
Performances: Opening Friday, October 11th at Laemmle Royal in West Los Angeles
