Paradies: Hoffnung (2013)

Paradies: Hoffnung: Directed by Ulrich Seidl. With Melanie Lenz, Verena Lehbauer, Joseph Lorenz, Michael Thomas. The final installment in Ulrich Seidl’s Paradise trilogy, ‘Paradise: Hope’ tells the story of overweight thirteen-year-old Melanie and her first love. While her mother travels to Kenya (‘Paradise: Love’) and her aunt does missionary work (‘Paradise: Faith’), Melanie spends her summer vacation at a strict diet camp for overweight adolescents. Between physical education and nutrition counseling, pillow fights and her first cigarette, Melanie falls in love with the camp director, a doctor forty years her senior. As the doctor struggles with the guilty nature of his desire, Melanie had imagined her paradise differently.

“The third and final movie of the u0026#39;Paradiseu0026#39; trilogy which sets in the summer holiday. Just like the previous two movies this one happens to the parallel timeline but in different locations with different theme and people. The movie which unfolds the story of u0026#39;Hopeu0026#39; of a teen girl and her summer vacation at weight loss camp. She was left there by her aunt and before that by her mother in her auntu0026#39;s house. So all the three movies were interconnected by the characters from one family. And this, the last movie of the trilogy briefs the teenagers issues especially the fat ones and their perspective.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe 13 year old Melanie was sent to the weight loss camp in her summer holiday as per the agreement from her mother. As she joins the others from the camp her innocence seemed to be gone. Unexpectedly she undergoes her first love experience and expects to lose her virginity. On the other side of the story, the friends hangout and partying at late night puts further trouble to her relationship with whom she considered her boyfriend.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis final episode of the trilogy portrayed from a girlu0026#39;s angle which definitely stands as the title promised. The director again did not hesitate to give his new and experimental approach to the problems faced by the people in the contemporary world. His bold attempt is what gave us the three spectacular movies which deals on the different contents and characters. Definitely such movies are not made to make money. But to show the people from different parts of the world about the direction of travelling new culture over the old. These movies are not for entertainment, if you are aware what you watching and whatu0026#39;s the purpose of it then you wonu0026#39;t be a disappoint much. Like I said three movies, three different locations, three different people and for three different audiences (unless you are a movie buff who watch all the three).”