36) THE RASPBERRY REICH

Director: Bruce La Bruce

Stars: Susanne Sachsse, Daniel Batscher, Andreas Rupprecht, Dean Stathis

Year: 2004

Rating: UR

(in English and German w/English subtitles)

I have to admit, this was my first Bruce La Bruce film - and to say watching The Raspberry Reich was a bizarre experience just doesn't even cut it. In your face, very sexually explicit (in fact, even the "toned down" version is virtually worthy of an X rating), the film is part parody, part comedy, part social commentary, and part porn.

In other words, from all I've read and seen, fairly typical of Bruce La Bruce.

That said, it's not an awful movie - especially if you like films that are either political commentaries ... or, in this case, a take-off on them. Susanne Sachsse stars as Gudrun, leader of a terrorist resistance group that, although the film is set in modern Germany, aims to bring back the pro-left wing movement from the 1970s. Spouting cool catch-phrases like "The revolution is my boyfriend!" and "Heterosexuality is the opiate of the masses!" the far-left revolutionary leader assembles a band of male followers to help her lead the cause ... then proceeds to force all of them (including her boyfriend) to have sex with each other, in order prove their mettle as true followers to both her and The Cause.

And that's pretty much the plot, if you include what happens to the guys after the sex. That said, the film never takes itself seriously; indeed, the opening (and very, VERY explicit) scene of Gudrun and her boyfriend having sex - all over their apartment and even into the elevator, with an elderly couple forced to ride the elevator with them - is actually pretty funny, as Gudrun spews much of her ideology ("Madonna is counter-revolutionary!") throughout. Her small, all-male army is certainly attractive enough to make the sex scenes downright hot, at times, and if you're into the whole social commentary thing (or those making fun of it, actually), then there will be moments to satisfy.

But overall, again while you can't hate the film, it's very one-note and would generally appeal to only a very select audience. The ending is kind of sweet, believe it or not - but the question is, is the journey to get there worth it?

In a way. For a low-budget indie film that makes no attempt to be more than it is (and for those interested in anything written in the above interview), it's worth a look. But again, only to a select group - and even those people will find their eyebrows raising, occasionally, throughout. **1/2 - Reel Mediocre-Reel Cool

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