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Blutsauger

Bloodsuckers - A Marxist Vampire Comedy

Germany 2021
produced by
Kirill Krasovski for Faktura Film, WDR, arte, Ludwig Kameraverleih, Maier Bros., The Post Republic
directed by Julian Radlmaier
starring Aleksandre Koberidze, Lilith Stangenberg, Alexander Herbst, Juan Felipe Amaya González, Andreas Döhler, Anton Gonopolski, Martin Hansen, Corinna Harfouch, Daniel Hoesl, Kyung-Taek Lie, Michael Baute, Mareike Beykirch, Bruno Derksen, Darja Lewin, Marie Rathscheck
written by Julian Radlmaier

review by
Mike Haberfelner

Somewhere in Germany, the 1920s: While a nearby reading circle already discusses the ideas of Karl Marx and speculates whether Marx's vampires are real or metaphorical, in her nearby mansion Countess Octavia (Lilith Stangenberg), who owns most of the region, can't let go of the olden times - even if she insists her servant Jakob (Alexander Herbst), who's of course madly in love with her, is actually her "personal assistant", as a sign that she's open to new ideas, flimsy as they might be. And then she stumbles upon a Russian baron, Lyowushka (Aleksandre Koberidze), and insists upon him staying with her, even if she knows nothing about him - and indeed, in the first night he tries to empty her safe, as it turns out he's actually an actor from the Sergei Eisenstein (Anton Gonopolski) movie October, who played Trotzki but his scenes were cut when Stalin had a fall-out with Trotzki. And now he needs money to make a reel to get back in favour with the Soviet filmworld. Octavia promises to help him produce his reel, if only he keeps up the charade to play her Russian baron friend for a while longer - especially when she's visited by her aunt Erkentrud (Corinna Harfouch), industrialist Dr. Humburg (Andreas Döhler), and jack-of-all-trades Bonin (Daniel Hoesl). This leads to all kinds of awkward situations, culminating in Octavia shooting a vampire movie with Lyowushka and a beachcomber (Kyunk-Taek Lie). Jakob, who's cameraman on the film, is in hope this will bring him closer to Octavia, but when that doesn't happen, he kills himself once the shoot's over. From them on it falls upon Lyowushka to take over Jakob's duties, while Octavia gets friendlier and friendlier with Bonin. Eventually Lyowushka breaks down from exhaustion, and when Bonin and Octavia find him, they, vampires after all, drink his blood. This though is witnessed by the spirit of Jakob, who drags over a member of the Marx reading circle to serve as eye witness - and naturally an angry mob is quick to form to stake Octavia - but they're stopped just in time by Lyowushka, who out of genuine love for Octavia promises to present to them the real vampire within 24 hours. But where can he get someone to take the fall for Octavia in that short a time?

 

Blutsauger is a rather weird film indeed, by mixing Karl Marx with comedy and horror motives, and even though Paul Morrissey has done this better in 1973's Blood for Dracula, the film at hand sure has its flashes of genius, from its eccentric characters to its intentionally stilted dialogue that often has kafka-esque traits to it, to its rather funny anachronisms when it comes to portraying the 1920s. What keeps the film from true greatness though is that it lacks proper narrative structure and instead just meanders about much of the time, to the point where some scenes feel repetitive. Also, not all leads are given proper character arcs, and with all these elements being underdeveloped the film runs much too long at over two hours, no matter huw much of it is chuckle-worthy. It's still genuinely funny mind you, and some of the satire hits quite where it hurts, it's just lacking in narrative tension.

 

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special appearances by
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directed by
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written by
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