Christoph Stark's second film comes not so long after that trendy, popular flick 'Run Lola Run' by Tom Twyker. It must still be fresh in Stark's memory, because something in 'Julietta' smells derivatively of the latter film. While Twkyer's film was quirky, and combined music with fast-paced shots without being too "MTV" about it, you have to wonder what Stark really wanted to do.
The plot is all rather banal: young, and in all probability, wealthy German youth party it up at the annual Love Parade in Berlin. The protagonist Julietta heads up with her friends from Stuttgart to see her boyfriend Jiri and promptly loses him in party fervour and drugged out disorientation. In her near-unconscious state she has what should be a disturbing encounter with Max - a DJ/producer with a sensitive heart even though he'd sleep with a woman when she's passed out.
Julietta returns to Berlin with a dilemma on hand and meets up with Max again (who has been befriended by boyfriend Jiri), and of course, what unravels is a predictable case of three-way tension, and so-called matters of the heart.
Stark's camera movements - often times rapid - and the bright hues of primary colours that fill the screen (Julietta in bright reds) are all affected attempts at being stylistic, but come off strained. It is as if he wants to make a film about youth culture and troubled emotions, absent parent figures and city life. But all he does is churn out a conventional tale with a supposedly unconventional twist in the plot. This twist in the plot is set to make us believe that men who take advantage of women may suffer profound guilt afterwards and have a compassionate heart. Itself characterized poorly in the figure of Max.
There's neither alluring style, nor substance to this film. An absolute waste of time. A pity, because lead actress Lavinia Wilson offers a promising performance which is wasted on this film.
