Threesome - A Night in New York - DVD

Content: John (Keanu Reeves) has many talents, but no idea what to use them for. The bon vivant spends his time roaming around New York or having wild nights with Violet (Bojana Novakovic) and Mia (Adelaide Clemens) in the Big Apple's colorful nightlife. When John stumbles across a video camera during one of his walks, he appropriates it without further ado and decides to try his hand at being a video artist. He wants to document the lives of his two girlfriends and create something real and unadulterated. While Violet quickly opens up in front of the camera, Mia initially wants nothing to do with the experiment. But then she too agrees to talk on camera, and a very special night begins that becomes a kind of self-discovery trip for the three friends, and one that may end up changing more than it first appears...

Threesome - A Night in New York is originally titled Generation Um...., which is much more accurate. This title is more accurate in that director Mark Mann's feature debut is a portrait of a generation defined by indecision, one that seems completely overwhelmed by a seemingly endless array of possibilities as they search for their place in life. Instead of meaningful activities that could ultimately bring something like happiness and contentment, the film's protagonists pursue pure superficiality. Their conversations, their laughter, the sex, none of it seems to possess any real depth. But even if the longing for a fulfilled life is there, John and his girlfriends seem to have long since given up the search for it.

There's no other way to explain the fact that John, despite his talents, spends his time primarily observing. And that's exactly what the viewer is doomed to do. There are long takes where almost nothing happens, such as a scene where John eats a muffin. Mann does manage very well, though, to make the emptiness that exists within his characters palpable. Also, his rather unusual look at life in New York exudes a very authentic, unadorned, and thus stirring atmosphere. Nevertheless, the film only succeeds with great difficulty in really grabbing the audience and tying them to the characters.

This is not only due to the fact that there are simply too few sympathy values. It's also the lack of a classic storyline and any associated character development that makes it hard to muster any real interest in the experiences of this one evening. The soul striptease that John, Violet and Mia pull off over the course of the second half of the film is well acted and intensely directed, to be sure. But it's just too little too late to console over the (intended) pettiness of the first half.

Threesome - A Night in New York is full of good intentions and has some strong moments to offer, which certainly makes the drama interesting for fans of young American arthouse cinema. However, for those expecting a traditional storyline and palpable character development, the whole thing is guaranteed to quickly feel boring and meaningless. Therefore: only for viewers who can get involved in the lifestyle of the generation Um..., worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: Especially in the scenes that John records with the video camera, the image sometimes seems deliberately amateurish. Slightly blurred images or blurs are simply part of the stylistic expression of the film in those moments. Otherwise, the image is very clean and has decent overall sharpness, while being dominated by a rather undercooked, grimy color scheme. For the most part, the audio remains very subdued. Save for a few atmospheric ambient sounds from the streets of New York or the music in a nightclub dominated by rich bass, the sound is primarily dominated by the centrally mixed dialogue. Good!

Extras: Besides the trailer for the film and other program tips from the provider, the DVD unfortunately has no other extras to offer.

Conclusion: Threesome - A Night in New York is a somewhat unwieldy drama that doesn't really tell a story, but rather tries to provide as authentic a look as possible at a generation driven by indecision and a search for meaning. This has strong moments, but might just create boredom especially for viewers who want more than conversations and observations delivered. However, if you like young American art house cinema and want to see a slightly different look at life in New York for once, this is definitely worth a look

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp