Tuvalu

“Tuvalu” is a pearl of cinematic grotesque, suspended in timelessness, somewhere on post-apocalyptic inhumanity. Between silent cinema and a dreamlike fairy tale for adults. German director Veit Helmer created a mesmerizing world of sepia, couples and crumbling machines, in which words almost lose their raison d'être, giving way to pure visual expression, archaic slapstick comedy and magnetic physicality by Denis Lavant (“Beautiful Work”, “Holy Motors” and Czułpan Khamatowa (“Goodbye, Lenin”, “Fever”)).

Stylistically, “Tuvalu” is an absolute triumph of retro-avant-garde. It is seen as a lost classic of German expressionism passed through the filter of Guy Maddin's imagination—with his fondness for broken tape, archaic editing and surreal sound blending. You can also feel the same kind of melancholy, steampunk poetry and mechanical humor that delighted Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro in “The City of Lost Children” or “Delicatessen”.

It is an absurdist story about the struggle to survive the dream of the title in a world doomed to demolition. Instead of the standard narrative, we get a spectacle of gestures, multilingual murmurs and scenographic artistry, where the Art Nouveau swimming pool becomes the last stronghold of human tenderness in the face of soulless modernization. An absolutely must for anyone looking for eccentric genius and radical formal courage in cinema.

Filmed in 1999, the film has not penetrated into the wider consciousness in our country, despite many awards and festivals. At Kinoteka, we bring him back to life during a special screening on October 22nd.