This absurdist German comedy might also be called “The Strange Little Film.” It takes place almost entirely in the Berlin apartment of a large middle-class family over the course of a lazy Saturday. Catastrophe keeps threatening to strike (household items break with uncanny frequency, a pair of older siblings exhibit signs of incestuous desire), yet nothing remarkable ever happens; likewise, the characters come close to experiencing epiphanies but don’t quite make it. Writer-director Ramon Zürcher presents all this in a rigid, deadpan style; the camera never moves, and everyone speaks in unemotional non sequiturs. This is an acquired taste to be sure, but it’s certainly unique. In German with subtitles.
The Strange Little Cat
1 hour 9 min • 2013
