Film

What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases

Search cinema listings

Browse cinemas A-Z

Search 20,000 reviews

 

The Unpolished (Die Unerzogenen) (2006)

Director: Pia Marais

Average user rating
No reviews

Movie review

From Time Out London

When her father (Birol Ünel – arguably the gruffest presence in cinema today) is released from prison, young Stevie becomes a detainee within the confines of her own family who, unluckily for her, have selected a rural squat overrun with transients, gypsies and drifters as their smack-strewn stomping ground. As a disjointed memory scrapbook of growing up in hippy hell, the film works well enough, with first-time director Marais intent on leaving questions unanswered and keeping context to an absolute minimum. It’s also severely lacking in focus, with three diffuse, unlovable and, in the end, indecipherable central characters who offer as little connection to each other as they do to a potential audience. The title – translated from Geman as ‘unruly children’ – offers a neat double entendre, as Marais is obviously sticking it to the unchecked boisterousness of both the young and the old characters in the film, although the English title probably offers a better appraisal of the work as a whole.

Author: David Jenkins 2007-10-10 15:40:52

Time Out London


  • Print this page
  • Send to a friend

What do you think?
Post your review now

clear rating
Min 1 star. Zero stars will be treated as unrated.

*mandatory fields





Top Stories

Review: Penélope Cruz more raunchy than ever in 'Nine'

Review: Penélope Cruz more raunchy than ever in 'Nine'

Dave Calhoun reports on Rob Marshall's Oscar-touted musical with Daniel Day-Lewis playing a troubled director

Time Out's 101 Films of the Decade

Time Out's 101 Films of the Decade

Ten years, thousands of movies and millions of dollars in international box office, and it all boils down to this

Jim Jarmusch on 'The Limits of Control'

Jim Jarmusch on 'The Limits of Control'

Jim Jarmusch has followed ‘Broken Flowers’ with an esoteric crime mystery. Dave Calhoun speaks to him from his New York office

Richard Linklater on 'Me and Orson Welles'

Richard Linklater on 'Me and Orson Welles'

Dave Calhoun meets the 49-year-old, Houston-born filmmaker Richard Linklater to discuss his new comedy

Our verdict on Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones

Our verdict on Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones

Peter Jackson ends a triumphant decade with a sentimental misfire with this lush Alice Sebold adaptation

On the set of Ken Loach's 'Route Irish'

On the set of Ken Loach's 'Route Irish'

Dave Calhoun meets Ken Loach on the set of his forthcoming Iraq war movie

Is 'Paranormal Activity' the new 'Blair Witch'?

Is 'Paranormal Activity' the new 'Blair Witch'?

How does a film go from DIY experiment to box-office smash? 'Paranormal Activity' director Oren Peli explains

A gateway to all things 'New Moon'

A gateway to all things 'New Moon'

In anticipation of 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon', Time Out is offering the chance to pick up a limited edition pack with three exclusive magazines and a free poster.

The films that deserve a TV spin-off

The films that deserve a TV spin-off

With Roland Emmerich suggesting he'd like to make a '2012' TV spin-off, we propose some more movie-to-TV serialisations

Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam

Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam

In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations