The Climb

Nicht ganz zufällig gilt das Genre des Buddy Movie derzeit als weitgehend durchdekliniert. Und die tragikomischen Besäufnisse an Thanksgiving, die umgestürzten Weihnachtsbäume und vergilbten Fotos aus der High-School-Zeit im Keller – seen it all. Umso interessanter, wenn die sattsam bekannten Orte der US-amerikanischen Familiensozialisation kinematografisch einmal wieder so ernst genommen werden, wie es früher bei einem Robert Altman die Regel war. Jede der sorgsam entwickelten Vignetten um eine toxisch-unverbrüchliche Freundschaft entfaltet sich als komplexe Plansequenz, die nicht nur die männlichen Hauptfiguren – von den Autoren selbst verkörpert – zu ihren Gunsten zu nutzen wissen. (Stephan Settele)

Am 5.11. in Anwesenheit von Michael Angelo Covino, Kyle Marvin und Emily Korteweg.

Movies and pop songs love to counsel us that “life is a journey”. How about a bicycle ride, climbing up a steep slope? At the start of THE CLIMB, Mike tells his best friend Kyle that he has slept with the latter’s fiancée – and it won’t be the last time that this happens. As the years pass, Mike and Kyle go in different directions, sometimes (sort of) reuniting. As male pals, they are a classic odd couple: Mike is aggressive and reckless, while Kyle is passive and submissive; Mike is “toxic”, but Kyle needs to assert himself more. Spinning around them are the ordinary, inevitable problems of love, death, divorce, family and emotional connection. Combining the comical forms of Pierre Étaix, P.T. Anderson, Luc Moullet and a Mumblecore movie, Covino cleverly stages most of his film in long takes that rove from character to character and from one point in space to another – taking in both the core of a event and its periphery, not only the hysterical, key participants but also the various, bewildered observers. Frequently very funny, well acted and punctuated with several fine musical interludes, this is a buddy-story that deftly veers between cringe-inducing laughter and despair. (Adrian Martin)

On November 5th, in the presence of Michael Angelo Covino, Kyle Martin and Emily Korteweg.