MovieChat Forums > Der siebente Kontinent (1992) Discussion > Just watched this film...

Just watched this film...

posted 18 years ago by TracesOfLove
15 replies | jump to latest

(Spoilers Below) It's been a while since a film has had such a profound effect on me. One in which has left me unable to articulate my exact feelings in which to describe the impact this film has made in my psyche. Maybe that's the point. How do you explain what happens in this film? Perhaps this is why there aren't many conversations on this board. (That and this film wasn't available until recently!) I would love to discuss this with someone else who has just watched it. I don't even know where to begin though!

I have read a lot of warnings that people shouldn't view this film if they are suicidal or depressed. But I don't know. Sometimes I have my dark moments and this film made me NEVER EVER want to kill myself. So maybe it is a good film for someone who has thoughts of suicide because maybe it would change their minds. I could be wrong though.

I didn't know much about the film before I rented it because I didn't want to spoil it for myself, but being a Haneke fan I knew something bad was ahead. Although I don't think that you need to be a fan to feel the horror that lie ahead while watching. So I prepared myself for the worst. I kept imagining this grotesque scene where the father chops up his family. Once I figured out what was about to take place, I imagined this horrific scene where the mother smothers the daughter in her sleep, the father blows the mother's head off and shoots himself. Every disturbing image my mind could come up could not prepare me for the final moments of the film. I never felt so compelled to stop a character's actions before. As soon as the daughter went though, I was rooting for them to get through with it and then feared that they would be discovered before they finished the job. Haneke knows what real horror is. Those sounds. Oh the horror! And those last images. So haunting. Why is this film so real?

Cousin Cheryl, I don't think the family REALLY knows you.

[–] vixtadot 18 years ago

yup, just watched this today, so I know what ur talking about. Haneke is my favorite filmmaker, and although seventh continent was his first film, it was the last of his that I have to see (until his tv work is released anyway) and yet again I am speechless. The fact that it is also a true story (the police found shredded money in the family toilet) makes it all the more harrowing. Haneke never gives us any answers, which is what makes his films so powerful.

I'm not sure how the film would sit with chronically depressed people - I suffer from mild depression and I wanted to kill myself halfway through, but I agree, by the end it became something that I doubt I will ever contemplate again.

[–] TracesOfLove 18 years ago

Ugh! I know that breathing! I can't get it out of my mind! I think this is Haneke's best film so far although I haven't seen Benny's Video and 71 Fragments yet because I just realized they were available. Oh and I haven't seen Cache either. I could've saw it in the theater but I was too lazy to drive an hour and a half away. I feel like kicking myself now because it would have been cool to see at least one Haneke film on the big screen!

Anyway thanks for the reply! I watched this film all alone and I just needed someone to talk to about it who just watched it. And worse I tried to show my boyfriend the film all last week and he kept falling asleep so I ended up watching the film 4 times by myself! I finally made him watch it as soon as he woke up. He finally made it to 1989 and has a whole new understanding of the film. Usually he only made it passed the supermarket shopping.

Watching it with him made me feel better though. I think the film really disturbed my mind. But discussing it all weekend long helped. And I've seen really disturbing movies! Like Irreversible, Happiness, Visitor Q, Man Bites Dog, etc. The films that disturbed me the most in the past have been Sophie's Choice, In a Glass Cage and In My Skin. But The Seventh Continent definitely beats them all!

Not that the film's merit should be how disturbing the images (and sounds!) are. What makes this film disturbing is not just the terrible demise of these characters but the truth behind their lives in our society. Every frame of the film was recognizable in life. When the mother cries in the carwash and you can see her trying to hide her emotions as if having feelings was something very bad. And the look on the father, however sympathetic, shows that he thinks the same. It reminds me of my parents trying to stop me from expressing emotion. Even my boyfriend has done this which was one of our main topics. With the state of our world right now it's so hard not to shut down. And being aware of this doesn't change anything which is why the family felt there was no other option but to end it all.

This film makes me want to laugh with abandon, to cry without shame and to shout loudly on rooftops! And for that reason, The Seventh Contininet is a masterpiece. And I am eternally grateful to Michael Haneke for the boost!

Cousin Cheryl, I don't think the family REALLY knows you.

[–] vixtadot 18 years ago

You seem to have the same way of appreciating movies as I do. I'm glad ur boyfriend watched it through - it must have been annoying that he kept falling asleep! Both my wife and I are huge Haneke fans and after I had seen it I couldn't wait to share it with her.

I am a big fan of Irreversible, Happiness, Visitor Q, Man Bites Dog and In My Skin and after reading ur last post i think i'll have to check out Sophie's Choice and In a Glass Cage - never seen either of those.

I hope you enjoy Benny's video 71 fragments... and cache when you see them - they are all really excellent, but read as little about them as possible.

Respect,

micr.d.t

[–] TracesOfLove 18 years ago

Yeah watching the film so many times helped me discuss it with my boyfriend as we were watching and when I do that with him he enjoys the film much more. I know that despite his initial lack of eagerness to see the kind of films I like they do influence him tremendously! I'm just glad he will watch them with me and appreciate them later. It's hard to find any of my family and friends who would be willing to do that. I showed my girlfriend In My Skin and now she thinks something is wrong with me!

A lot of people are surprised when I pick Sophie's Choice as one of the most disturbing films because there really aren't any graphic scenes like in the films above. But it's a film that really gets to me none the less. In a Glass Cage made me feel ill.

Yeah I try to read as little as I can about the films that I want to see. Usually I can tell if I want to see it by just a few of the title heads on the user comments. I can't wait to see Haneke's other films. I had to stop myself from seeing Benny's Video because I like to spread films out. I'm going to see Ma Mere this weekend and hopefully I'll get Lies in time too. I also rented this Japanese sit-com called "Oh Mikey!" which is about an American family who moved to Japan and the characters are played by mannequins! I think that will help lighten up my weekend movie rentals! Thanks again for replying! It gets lonely on these particular boards.

Cousin Cheryl, I don't think the family REALLY knows you.

[–] vixtadot 18 years ago

hmmmm, interesting.

I'm glad someone else doesn't need any graphic imagery to be disturbed. One of my favourites of this type has to be the vanishing (the original of course, the remake was beyond the pale). I get terrified sometimes if i'm out with my wife shopping and we get seperated ever since I saw that film.

However, as i'm sure you know, theres nothing wrong with you for liking In My Skin - my wife cuts herself and she was really impressed with the psychology of the protagonist, much more so than in Secretary which she hated with a passion!

Anyway, just a recommendation for you (if you've not already seen it) - Calvaire aka The Ordeal - that film is so disturbing it becomes a comedy, because you just don't know how else to react to it.

keep on keepin on :-)

[–] TracesOfLove 18 years ago

Yeah Spoorloos! I love that movie! I have the same feeling all the time! And it was really crazy when me and my boyfriend were driving through France and stopping at reststops, searching through the mountains to find Italy, and we kept talking about that film! My French was about the same as Saskia's too so it was like reliving the movie!

I get depressed sometimes because I love films so much, and everyone thinks I'm messed up because of the films I like. Of course these are the same people who make fun of me for calling Iraq, ear-rahk and not eye-rack. Where I'm living now people think Taxi Driver and A Clockwork Orange are lame. Can you imagine? Not some obscure Bergman film but two of the most accessible masterpieces out there! In ENGLISH even! Do you feel my pain?

Oh and thank you for the recommendation! I never heard of it. I got it saved so I'll rent it as soon as it's available. I love finding new films to see! I want to see this Dutch film called "Terrorama!" but I can't even find it on Netflix to save so it will be a while.

Cousin Cheryl, I don't think the family REALLY knows you.

[–] vixtadot 18 years ago

"I get depressed sometimes because I love films so much, and everyone thinks I'm messed up because of the films I like. Of course these are the same people who make fun of me for calling Iraq, ear-rahk and not eye-rack. Where I'm living now people think Taxi Driver and A Clockwork Orange are lame. Can you imagine? Not some obscure Bergman film but two of the most accessible masterpieces out there! In ENGLISH even! Do you feel my pain? "

lol. A Clockwork orange is my favorite - nobody ever seems to understand why. ho-hum.

oh and by the way, NOBODY says "eye-rack" round here - we had them all killed.

[–] TracesOfLove 18 years ago

Lol. Netfix has a list of recommendations based off where I live and it's really sad.

Cheaper by the Dozen 2
Memoirs of a Geisha
Red Eye
Paycheck
Mean Girls
Crash
24 Season 4

I am shocked though because the list is a lot better than the last time I checked! I can't believe my eyes but Cache is on the list! What, is Eva Green or Ludivine Sagnier in the film or something? Because usually when someone I meet in my neighborhood saw a film I really love, that is the reason.

Oh and about the film In My Skin, did you ever see Regarde La Mer? It's a Francois Ozon short with Marina de Van. Her performance in it was the reason I jumped at renting In My Skin as soon as I saw it.

Cousin Cheryl, I don't think the family REALLY knows you.

[–] leeloo67 18 years ago

I just watched this too, but I didn't like it as much as some of Haneke's others. The Piano Teacher and Code Unknown are both favorites, and I liked Cache very much. I really liked the beginning of Time of the Wolf, but that movie somewhat peters out for me.

Anyway, this movie was classic Haneke for sure. I really liked how he showed the daily routine stuff several times and how it contrasted with the 'daily routine' towards the end of the film.

Like you guys, I can't believe the garbage that passes for cinematic entertainment these days. When I saw Cache in the theater there was me, an employee and a gay couple. The Hollywood Mega-plex down the street was packed. My wife wouldn't even go see the movie with me. I'm not saying Michael Haneke would ever be accepted mainstream, but I bet a lot of people would like some of his movies (oh, and Werner Herzog too, for sure - just look at Grizzly Man - and that isn't even close to his best) if they simply KNEW they existed! I mean, the beginning of Time of the Wolf was as spooky as anything in The Blair Witch Project. And if you really like horror movies, skip the recycled teenage slasher junk that really isn't scary at all and watch just about any Haneke movie - most of them seem to have an undercurrent of violence and spookiness.

[–] OrpheusDescending 17 years ago

This one hasn't really left me since I saw it. Such a powerful film. The thing that really gets me is that I don't find it depressing. The characters made a conscious choice to leave their lives behind, to have something better, even if that something better is nothingness. It basically left me speechless. I love Haneke.

[–] dillydoggy54 17 years ago

*spoilers*
I think that Haneke and David Lynch are the only directors left out there that can keep me completely consumed and emotionally gutted after watching their films...
I just watched this movie- and like many I've seen many of Haneke's other works and finally got to watch this one....i normally have alot to say but I'm so drained after the viewing that really I'm without words...
How people can get frightened or disturbed over commercial garbage like Saw and Prom Night when you have life altering masterpieces such as this, I do not know! What is particularly chilling is how the film, while it works so well on a symbolic and allegorical level- is based on a true story! omg that little girl....I thought i was going to be physically sick for the last 20 minutes of this movie.
How Haneke can take a story and create the brilliant allusion to bourgeosie society and implying fact that this middle class, conformist and emotionally blunted family are in fact, on so many levels, already dead, thus horrifically minimalizing the entire decision to commit suicide - is just masterful and frightening.

"Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior?"
"No, but I love his work "

[–] DVDAddict79 16 years ago

I delayed seeing this film for ages, imagining a really gruesome suicide pact, but - like many of the posters - the real ending was far worse in my opinion. I can still picture the husband's blank face watching the television even months after watching it for the first, and probably only, time.

[–] pleistocene 16 years ago

Fantastic indictment of the emptiness of modern consumer society that should be watched by anybody who still has a soul.

And to think that this was made nearly 20 years ago, genius......

"People will do anything, no matter how absurd, in order to avoid facing their own soul" - C.G.Jung

[–] musicbymartin 16 years ago

SPOILERS

Those were the cleverest scenes for me really - watching household items being used (not even seeing faces) in the first part of the movie set up the second.

The slow burning, gradually increasing shots of violence in the second half of the movie were not to people, but to the objects we desire - sofas, TVs, pictures, LPs are all systematically destroyed. I found myself thinking the worst - "were is this all going to end?". And the cuts of slashing, smashing, breaking, hammering, destroying had a profound, terrifying effect as I watched.

He is saying something about cosumerism, I think, but he's also saying something about life. The things used to live life are introduced in the first half are destroyed in the second, in the same way that lives are actually destroyed. That the girl reacts to the destruction of the fish tank shows that there is still an appreciation of life with her - she hasn't completely cut herself off in the way her parents had.

They didn't even care about the effect it would have on the wife's brother, so obviously depressed after the death of his own mother.

I've been in the group for years and I know, he always listens.

[–] BlackMagikWoman 12 years ago

this is one of the most brilliant films ever. i couldn't have written a better understanding of depression and nihilism myself. genius.