No One Sleeps

Rating:
Summary: Wow - this movie is truly terrible!
Review: I recently read from an online reviewer that the days are long gone when gay people should watch a film simply because it is about or made by other homosexuals. I completely agree.

No One Sleeps sounds like an interesting film when you read the box, but it isn't. The premise is that a German student visiting San Francisco, researching U.S. government involvement in the creation of the AIDS virus, gets caught up in a murder plot to quiet any such revelations. This is a conspiracy theory that came about almost as soon as the virus was named. I don't know of another film where this is a plot device. I'm not sure that it wouldn't be a good plot for a film - just not this film.

Frankly, I couldn't make heads or tails of this film. At first I wasn't sure that the lead character was gay, then later he's having annoynmous sex with a guy he picks up (or did he? - who can tell?). It was laughable that this character is allowed to jog right through a murder crime scene and is never brought into the police headquarters for questioning when he shows up a numerous murder scenes. But then there really doesn't appear to be a script for this film except when the lead detective shows up. When this detective (a woman for no other reason I could surmise than a female presence was dictated necessary) speaks, it's with a whiny voice (sorry to the community theatre actress portraying the part) and with these hacknied phrases and overwrought emotions.

There is no build up, no emotional connection with the characters. Editing literally "jumps" in places and doesn't follow any sort of logical flow. I think the audience was supposed to see some sort of emotional connection between the lead character and the rough trade guy who later turns out to be the killer, but it was never developed (and sorry if you feel I've given a spoiler there - but if you think this spoiled a perfectly putrid film for you write me and tell me off). There is no logical reason for the characters to do what they do. I am quite sure that someone put there heart and soul into this film. Sadly, they have no experience in screenwriting or directing, or acting, or editing, or sound, or criminology, or police work, or San Francisco, or Germany. I know absolutely nothing about Nuclear Physics - therefore, according to these filmmakers - I am highly qualified to develop and create a film on that very subject.

There have been some truly good films that featured gay characters and were made by gay filmmakers. This is definitely not one of them. Back in the 70's there were films known as "Blacksploitation" films because they were created and starred blacks for no reason than to cater to the black audience. Are the films of Wolf Video "Homosploitation" films?

Listen - don't bother! This film is horrible horrible horrible. There is no point in bothering. Instead just drive nails into your skull. It will make far more sense and be much more satisfying.

Rating:
Summary: Wow - this movie is truly terrible!
Review: I recently read from an online reviewer that the days are long gone when gay people should watch a film simply because it is about or made by other homosexuals. I completely agree.

No One Sleeps sounds like an interesting film when you read the box, but it isn't. The premise is that a German student visiting San Francisco, researching U.S. government involvement in the creation of the AIDS virus, gets caught up in a murder plot to quiet any such revelations. This is a conspiracy theory that came about almost as soon as the virus was named. I don't know of another film where this is a plot device. I'm not sure that it wouldn't be a good plot for a film - just not this film.

Frankly, I couldn't make heads or tails of this film. At first I wasn't sure that the lead character was gay, then later he's having annoynmous sex with a guy he picks up (or did he? - who can tell?). It was laughable that this character is allowed to jog right through a murder crime scene and is never brought into the police headquarters for questioning when he shows up a numerous murder scenes. But then there really doesn't appear to be a script for this film except when the lead detective shows up. When this detective (a woman for no other reason I could surmise than a female presence was dictated necessary) speaks, it's with a whiny voice (sorry to the community theatre actress portraying the part) and with these hacknied phrases and overwrought emotions.

There is no build up, no emotional connection with the characters. Editing literally "jumps" in places and doesn't follow any sort of logical flow. I think the audience was supposed to see some sort of emotional connection between the lead character and the rough trade guy who later turns out to be the killer, but it was never developed (and sorry if you feel I've given a spoiler there - but if you think this spoiled a perfectly putrid film for you write me and tell me off). There is no logical reason for the characters to do what they do. I am quite sure that someone put there heart and soul into this film. Sadly, they have no experience in screenwriting or directing, or acting, or editing, or sound, or criminology, or police work, or San Francisco, or Germany. I know absolutely nothing about Nuclear Physics - therefore, according to these filmmakers - I am highly qualified to develop and create a film on that very subject.

There have been some truly good films that featured gay characters and were made by gay filmmakers. This is definitely not one of them. Back in the 70's there were films known as "Blacksploitation" films because they were created and starred blacks for no reason than to cater to the black audience. Are the films of Wolf Video "Homosploitation" films?

Listen - don't bother! This film is horrible horrible horrible. There is no point in bothering. Instead just drive nails into your skull. It will make far more sense and be much more satisfying.

Rating:
Summary: But this movie snoozes...
Review: Just rented this movie, and although I never review stuff, I had warn potential viewers. Don't buy into the "riveting" and other marketing blurbs in the review. The main character's mission in uncovering an "AIDS coverup" is highly convoluted to the point it makes absolutely no sense. And as far as acting, the main character, Stephan, is cute and the actor holds his own, but the rest of the cast walk through the film like they're helping out a grad student finish a film thesis. In fact, the entire movie plays out like a bad college film. Perhaps the unusual genre of a gay thriller (??) propelled it into national distribution. Probably the saddest part of the entire experience is the writer's attempt at drawing a parallel between Puccini's exquisite opera "Turandot" and the deranged murderer's attack of HIV+ men. Somehow, the entire population of San Francisco seems to know the story of Turandot (but oddly, not how to pronounce it). A scene where an opera singer bursts into "Nessun Dorma" (the tenor aria "No One Sleeps" -- get it? get it?) in the middle of a restaurant had me rolling on the floor. Somehow I don't think I was supposed to be laughing. There are a lot of solid, well-written yet low budget gay films out there--unfortunately, this isn't one of them.

Rating:
Summary: It's like a bad accident - You don't want to look, but ...!
Review: Let me start by saying something nice: Tom Wlaschiha, the film's lead, valiantly held his own in this muddled bit of tripe. Wlaschiha was not just up against the fact that he was having to perform in English, which is not his native language, but some of the worst writing, directing, editing and acting from the supporting cast (actually, calling them supporting is a contradiction of terms!) that the film industry has ever put in the can.

The list of what's wrong with the film is actually much too long to analyze completely here, but it's starts with the lame attempt to force a modern-day, urban story into an opera plot - how many times will film makers try this, before they realize that it's silly at best? Trying to link Puccini's Turandot with a murderous cover-up conspiracy of the theory that the US government was doing testing with the HIV virus that had been found in sheep on prison inmates is akin to linking Queen's song "We are the Champions" to the Watergate cover-up...in other words: hammering a square peg into a round hole. The only conspiracy that seemed to be going on was the fact that everyone in San Francisco, where the film is set, seemed to know this opera by heart, breaking into its catchy tunes at a drop of a hat. When the Italian tenor breaks into "Nessun Dorma" at the end of an opening night party, simply because some guy tells him that his performance was good, I rolled off my couch laughing! This only topped by the fact that the serial killers hums the ditty while killing his HIV+ victims.

The idea of using this theory as a cover-up conspiracy plot is not the problem here. In the hands of a good writer and director, this could actually make a thrilling plot along the lines of "JFK". Jochen Hick, who wrote, directed and produced the film (probably sewed the costumes, too), didn't seem to know if he wanted to make this a crime/thriller, or a character study of his lead character. Ultimately, he tried both and failed at both, ending up making just about every mistake a writer, as well as a director, could make - this all in just 104 minutes!

One thing I have to give Hick credit for: as much as I wanted to turn the damn DVD player off, I watched this baby to the bitter end, but please don't take that as a recommendation to do the same!

A film that every film school should use as a glowing example of: „don't let this happen to you!"

Rating:
Summary: It's like a bad accident - You don't want to look, but ...!
Review: Let me start by saying something nice: Tom Wlaschiha, the film's lead, valiantly held his own in this muddled bit of tripe. Wlaschiha was not just up against the fact that he was having to perform in English, which is not his native language, but some of the worst writing, directing, editing and acting from the supporting cast (actually, calling them supporting is a contradiction of terms!) that the film industry has ever put in the can.

The list of what's wrong with the film is actually much too long to analyze completely here, but it's starts with the lame attempt to force a modern-day, urban story into an opera plot - how many times will film makers try this, before they realize that it's silly at best? Trying to link Puccini's Turandot with a murderous cover-up conspiracy of the theory that the US government was doing testing with the HIV virus that had been found in sheep on prison inmates is akin to linking Queen's song "We are the Champions" to the Watergate cover-up...in other words: hammering a square peg into a round hole. The only conspiracy that seemed to be going on was the fact that everyone in San Francisco, where the film is set, seemed to know this opera by heart, breaking into its catchy tunes at a drop of a hat. When the Italian tenor breaks into "Nessun Dorma" at the end of an opening night party, simply because some guy tells him that his performance was good, I rolled off my couch laughing! This only topped by the fact that the serial killers hums the ditty while killing his HIV+ victims.

The idea of using this theory as a cover-up conspiracy plot is not the problem here. In the hands of a good writer and director, this could actually make a thrilling plot along the lines of "JFK". Jochen Hick, who wrote, directed and produced the film (probably sewed the costumes, too), didn't seem to know if he wanted to make this a crime/thriller, or a character study of his lead character. Ultimately, he tried both and failed at both, ending up making just about every mistake a writer, as well as a director, could make - this all in just 104 minutes!

One thing I have to give Hick credit for: as much as I wanted to turn the damn DVD player off, I watched this baby to the bitter end, but please don't take that as a recommendation to do the same!

A film that every film school should use as a glowing example of: „don't let this happen to you!"

Rating:
Summary: Tries to do too much
Review: Oh yes, this film has some problems. The base plot of a German man doing research on the cause of the Aids virus who then gets sidetracked by some loosely related murders is fine. What goes wrong is the plot takes so many false turns. Opens doors that go no where and makes leaps that seem like poor editing (or writing) that it is easy to get lost. To further confuse us, the main character gets involved with a dangerous type that has some never explained ties to the whole issue he is researching and perhaps even the murders.

This film simply tries to do too much. Watch it with that in mind and it will be okay. Trivia! The lead female detective has the most annoying voice I have ever heard. Like nails on a blackboard.

Rating:
Summary: Positive On Bearing a Cross
Review: The protagonist of "No One Sleeps" is Stefan Hein (played by Tom Wlaschiha), a doctoral student from a university in Berlin, who visits San Francisco to make a presentation at GGU (presumably Golden Gate University). Stefan presents an old idea, originally taken up by his father, that AIDS came about around 1978 when the US government allegedly tested varieties of sheep viruses on prisoners in return for releasing the prisoners earlier than expected. Although the reception to the presentation was rather impolite, Stefan is determined to spend some time in the City seeing if he can find any more records or people to substantiate the theory.

At the university, Stefan makes three acquaintances. One is a friendly graduate student, Sascha; one is a neurologist, Dr. Richard Burroghs (played by Richard Conti), who says he found Stefan's presentation the best of the day; the third is a bearded hunk, Jeffrey Russo (played by Jim Thalman), who approaches Stefan.

Meanwhile, one dead body has already shown up in a Presidio fortification. Stefan's research led him via an AIDS Project office to a club kid, whose entrance is as a corpse. At both deaths, witnesses heard music from Puccini's last grand opera, "Turandot".

Stefan pokes around. The police poke around. Connections gradually appear between the characters. Some people hum tunes from "Turandot". One character is on the board of the San Francisco Opera, which is currently performing the work. Meanwhile Stefan is being very determined to hook up with a promising, though dangerous character, who works as a waiter. Is it love, lust, or research? Meanwhile, the FBI is unusually attentive to events. Climax. Incomplete resolution.

Tom Wlaschiha attractively carried the movie. Jim Thalman and Richard Conti also gave good acting performances. Karl Fischer and Brian Yates did well in smaller roles as a nurse and a volunteer, respectively, for an AIDS-related service. The rest of the cast merits little comment.

It was nice to have new San Francisco settings, with the Potrero, Tenderloin, and South of Market Districts shown, instead of the usual tourist areas (including Castro Street). Having one scene at the Cypress Lawn Memorial Park in Colma was a good change of pace.

The movie does bound along without giving complete back stories or explicitly tying up the loose ends. Stefan has some information before the action starts and some ideas on how to follow it up. His main methodology is walk wordlessly through sex clubs and wait for the clues and key characters to show up. He finds out about a third victim before the body is even removed from the premises. Intuitions. He is able to take a complicated route to break and enter without rehearsal. Lots of people have detailed memories of the plot of "Turandot". The relationships between the main bad guys is quite opaque. Why did Stefan keep wearing a cross? Who searched Stefan's room? Who killed one of the bad guys? Would the police be so lackadaisical? The list goes on. On a first viewing, one notices lots of loose ends. On a second viewing, one can use imagination to fill in many, but not all, of the gaps.

On the "Turandot" question, local opera fans really do replay their CDs and reread the librettos of the operas selected for performance each season by the San Francisco Opera. Stefan seems to live in a gay-friendly+ apartment building; the bad guys have reason to know the opera; the coincidence is not as impossible as some think. Still, the singing of "Nessun Dorma" at the party afterward seems unlikely, as a good singer saves his voice for the big time; maybe the wine flowed too freely?

My first viewing netted two stars. A second viewing netted three. A third would not earn a fourth. See it for Tom Wlaschiha, an interesting premise, and some new scenery.

Rating:
Summary: This is not a movie for shallow people.
Review: This is an excellent film. Period. Those who did not understand all the subtle undercurrents between the characters and did not appreciate the fact that the movie combines suspense, tension, drama, and romance, either prefer films that push everything in your face (like most of Hollywood's releases), or they began watching the movie with a pre-conceived notion that they wouldn't like it (possibly because of the other reviews here).

I am a fan of Indie movies and other venues that challenge the viewer to use the grey matter between their ears. If you also prefer to think for yourself, rather than be thought for, you will probably enjoy this movie as well.

Tom Wlaschiha gives a believable, realistic, sensual performance, and the other major characters behave like real people, rather than characters reading from a script. Perhaps a few scenes are a bit over the top, but then, so is real life from time to time. If the viewer doesn't recognize that, then I suggest that instead of bad-mouthing this movie, he or she should get a life of their own, provided they can tear themselves away from the WWF long enough.