Sworn Virgin

Cinematographically, the film is a work of almost typical art-house cinema fare, often overdramatic in its unnecessarily shaky camera movement, yet one shot stands apart with exceptional executional grace. As the swim hall begins to close down, the object of Mark’s desire — a lifeguard played by a near-silent Lars Eidinger — collects the pools’ dividing lanes as the hall’s final swimmer pushes on slowly and Mark watches contemplatively. It is a scene of pure cinema, conveying all of its conflicted emotions through a slow temporal progression and silent gazes. The shot alone is a work of great artistic integrity, but it is regretfully unique in the context of Sworn Virgin as a whole. http://www.thefocuspull.com/features/berlinale-2015-sworn-virgin/