O BEAUTIFUL NIGHT

O BEAUTIFUL NIGHT, 2019
Germany | DCP, Color, 89’ | German, Russian, Korean
Director: Xaver Böhm
Cast: Noah Saavedra, Marko Mandić, Vanessa Loibl

Hypochondriac Juri’s heart seems to stop when he realizes that he is being followed by a raven. Because of the bird, Juri falls into the clutches of a man with a weird accent, who claims that he is the embodiment of death. This sets Juri off on a night-long journey around race car tracks and opium bars. At one of these pitstops, Juri meets a mysterious woman named Nina. A stripper, Nina takes her place next to death who has become the designated driver of this ‘muscle car’ and joins this uncanny duo on their way to hell. Juri is in the backseat. His heart seems to be beating out of control, because he has fallen in love with Nina. However, there is no cheating death. The director and illustrator from Berlin, Xaver Böhm's action-packed first film is also a ‘dream journey’ transfered onto images. Shiny Vanitas paintings, deserted streets and fancy spaces decorated with a retro-romantic style all merge into one another. Throughout this journey accompanied with a score that reminds one of neon-light filled nightclubs, Juri tries to decide what he wants from life as he also tries to make sense of his fellow travellers.