Sightseers - DVD

Movie: Ever since her mother Carol's (Eileen Davies) beloved dog died in a terrible accident, 34-year-old Tina's (Alice Lowe) life has consisted of nothing but hostility from her mother and constant frustration. That changes when she meets Chris (Steve Oram). The two immediately hit it off, which is why they quickly decide to travel together in a camper van through Yorkshire. Although Carol finds her daughter's new boyfriend more than suspicious, Tina doesn't let herself be deterred from setting off on what she hopes will be a wonderful holiday. In fact, their trip together starts off extremely idyllic. But when Chris witnesses an act of minor pollution and, enraged, unceremoniously runs over the person who caused it, Tina realizes that her lover is not the mild-mannered man she thought he was, but an easily irritable serial killer from whom she should actually flee as quickly as possible. But Tina isn't even thinking about skipping her vacation. After all, she's crocheted some extra pink sexy lingerie for the occasion, and she's damn well going to use it. And somehow Chris' somewhat over-the-top sense of justice is quite appealing...

Sightseers is a pitch-black comedy in which British blandness meets blood-soaked absurdity. Director Ben Wheatley, who most recently attracted attention with Kill List, does a first-rate job of mixing dry wordplay and macabre scenes into an unusual but highly entertaining whole. It's not only the murders and the motives that lead to them that make up the bizarre character of the film. The real-life locations where the story takes place also take on an important role. Whether it's a campsite, a pencil museum or a site where historic railways take visitors through, these are all places that show a very different side of Britain for once that you rarely get to see on film.

The fact that the film works so well for long stretches and, apart from a couple of minor hang-ups in the final third, provides some really good entertainment is not just down to the direction, camerawork and wonderful song choices for the soundtrack. What's really crucial is the fact that Alice Lowe and Steve Oram, who also co-wrote the screenplay, developed their roles over several years and internalized them so much during the various stages of development that they virtually melt completely into these quirky characters. The fact that they improvised a lot of the dialogue doesn't seem stilted or forced, but absolutely natural, which makes the humour work much better.

After the very original and sometimes very nasty beginning, the film seems to run out of steam towards the end. Admittedly, there are always amusing moments for friends of black humor. But there are also a few small lengths, which diminish the otherwise positive overall impression, at least temporarily. The consistent finale but then quickly compensates for these small weaknesses.

The German distributor has taken a lot of trouble to transfer the very special humor of the film into German. Thus, for the dubbing of the two main characters with Anke Engelke and Bjarne Mädel (Stromberg, Der Tatortreiniger) two prominent voices could be won, which should guarantee that Sightseers is also fun in the German version. Hopefully these two well-known names will perhaps help this wicked little comedy get the attention it deserves in Germany as well. If you like British humor of the nasty kind and extremely unusual serial killer movies, you should definitely travel with this weird couple through the English pampas. It's worth it!

Picture + Sound: The DVD's picture is particularly pleasing with its atmospheric color scheme. The image sharpness is overall on a good level, although the image here and there also a little washed out - which, however, can also be seen as an intentional stylistic device. The sound is relatively unspectacular, as the rather centrally mixed dialogues and the good soundtrack set the tone here. Every now and then, however, a few well-realized ambient sounds or minor sound effects ensure that the surround channels are also claimed. Good!

Extras: The bonus material has turned out a little lean. The extras from the British DVD (Behind the Scenes, Outtakes, Audio Commentaries) unfortunately didn't make it onto the German disc. Here viewers get interviews with Alice Lowe (9:28 min.), Steve Oram (10:13 min.), director Ben Wheatley (10:37 min.), as well as with the voice actors Anke Engelke (3:25 min.) and Bjarne Mädel (2:59 min.). In addition, there is a small look at the work in the dubbing studio (5:36 min.), as well as program tips from the provider.

Conclusion: Sightseers is a pitch-black comedy of the particularly British kind, which mixes uptight conventionality with brutal bloodthirstiness to form an enjoyable whole. Although the whole thing runs out of steam towards the end, fans of wicked humour will still get their money's worth. The DVD is technically coherent, the bonus material is informative, but also a little superficial. Nevertheless, the bottom line is a very clear: Recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp