Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: THANKS FOR NOTHING [SXSW Film - Austin, Texas]
The angst of "Thanks For Nothing" [Global] actually works because of the lyricality behind it. Using a context like "Amelie" or "Run Lola Run", the structure of the film uses what the characters don't reveal in the main narrative of why a specific integration of four girls who have been abandoned to a children's home in a way before their 18th birthdays come together. It may sound like a tricky perspective and perhaps off tone but after the initial context is set up of a social worker and his three wards per se trying to save a girl Katharina (Lea Drinda) from offing herself before her 18th birthday by suicide, the pace becomes much clearer. Drinda, once established as Katharina, has a wistful ethereal element about her and with her silence in many ways (especially in one shot) evokes Audrey Hepburn. The character might be melodramatic but Drinda finds exactly the right pitch by the midway point. Even though there is an underlying darkness, the film is able to remain remarkably hopeful and light in its intention and core, not because of comedy but because all the girls (and their perspective paramours to a lesser degree) really inhabit their lives without getting overtly bogged down.
Ricky (Safinaz Sattar) has the most difficult job because she is the most stable but her character needs to be the one to push the plot in a way. Because of that, her character doesn't get to breathe or stretch as much as the others though her predicament (and/or response) becomes more consequential as the story moves forward. Victoria (Sonja Weißer) creates the most comic relief as a cigarette heiress who just wants to play even though she never quite commits to anything. The best character though besides Katharina (and the one that feels closest to "Amelie") is Malou (Zoe Stein), a brilliant girl who never speaks. Her response and context of being asked out on a date by a boy who is seemingly also a good soul (his best friends are chickens) really is the sequence that grounds the film, though we never see how any of the relationships, save for one, come to fruition or play out per se. The dialogue is quite sharp and the film never overplays its hand, opting for a clear style without being overwhelming. Most films like this could be bogged down in their own possibilities but "Thanks For Nothing" never takes itself so seriously that is become dread-filled. These girls are having trouble like any other people. Life goes on but their friends also make sure they have a place to land, even if it is in their own best self-interests. "Thanks For Nothing" is a welcome surprise of hope and empathy wrapped in a story of facing those moments of becoming an adult while still retaining the wonder of certain things. B+
By Tim Wassberg
