What remains of the intoxication when the light is concerned? “”Rave on“By Nikias Chryssos and Viktor Jakovleski, the answer makes the answer as physically and emotionally. Between bass storms and drug trip, techno ecstasy and inner emptiness, the directing duo tells of a man who is confronted with himself, his past and his failed dreams in a single Berlin club night. Place ”, in which he built hermetic microcosms – penetrating sloping family structures, authoritarian education and grotesque rituals.
In “Rave on” the club now replaces the family, the collective of the parent body. The technical night becomes the scene of late self -discovery. The directors mix atmospheric club recordings with surreal distortions, let documentary reality and hallucinated inner worlds meet – and create a film that wants to make a long club night with its ups and downs. It's about music, memory and about whether you can put yourself up again when the last track fades.
Klaus (Clemens Schick) is still not quite over the fact that his buddy Kosmo messed up his breakthrough as a DJ at the time.
The formerly up-and-coming DJ Kosmo (Aaron Altaras) noticed that the rave legend Troy (Jamal Moss) is back in his old favorite club in Berlin. The last time Troy played there was that evening when Kosmo and his then Compagnon Klaus (Clemens Schick) actually wanted to celebrate their big breakthrough. But Kosmo ruined the performance. Well, years later, he wants to know one last time.
Kosmo brings a self -compiled vinyl plate with its tracks, hoping to be able to personally hand them over to Troy. But as soon as Kosmo entered the club, he meets people from his past. Old conflicts, missed opportunities and long -repressed feelings get him. And while the sun is slowly falling outside, one night begins inside that changes everything – a trip between euphoria, escapism and memory …
Let's rave on!
Strange family constellations, educational rituals and the encapsulation of a hermetical-hierarchical world were at the center of the first two movies by Nikias Chryssos. DJ Kosmo also runs through a purification process that consists of naveling your own past. However, in contrast to the previous films, there are no family nor authority systems. Unless you would like to read the Rave Club as a symbolic replacement family. What continues, on the other hand, is Chrysos's' faithinal for weird characters, surreal situations and deliberately broken levels of reality: in cosmos drug dreams and memory pushing, some of which are triggered by confrontative encounters, is reflected in its inner world, which merges with the dark, pulsating outside world of the club.
Numerous scenes were shot in a Berlin club during actual party nights and thus give the film a documentary paint. This shows the influence of ChrysSOS 'directorial colleague Viktor Jakovleski, who in his documentary “Brimstone & Glory” has already made a fireworks festival tangible with suggestive force. This physical suction is also created in “Rave on” – the audience becomes part of the crowd. Raphael's camera loses in the fog, catches sweaty faces and flickering light, stumbles through rooms without ever losing control.
No rave without the necessary substances.
The integration of real club moments forms a content-related parallel to the techno film “Berlin Calling”, which addresses a similar milieu including the drug excesses of its DJ protagonist. In contrast to Hannes Stöhr's success film, “Rave On” tells of no music career, but focuses on a single, excessive club night in which Kosmo is increasingly getting lost in hedonistic intoxication from music and drugs. The whole thing is supported by Ed Davenport's driving soundtrack, which specifies the rhythm.
Visually and acoustically, the director's duo creates an authentic club film that captures the ups and downs of a drafted party night in Berlin nightlife. A sophisticated plot or surprising twists are not in the foreground, but the blurring of the levels of perception. “Rave on” does not have a clear separation between cold reality and hallucinatory drug rush. Instead, there is a fluid film experience that takes the viewer on a feverish journey through night and consciousness.
The main actor is itself DJ
Aaron Altaras (“Unorthodox”) embodies the main character Kosmo as a driven person who tries to leave the past and guilt behind and, in search of a possible fresh start, returns to the once familiar but now-appearing techno temple. With his often searching look, he reflects the inner tornness of the figure. The authenticity of his representation is underlined by Altaras' own musical background: Together with his brother, he operates the DJ project “Alcatraz”.
Clemens Schick (“The Determination”) appears as a counter -figure: his Klaus works confidently and is a mysterious appearance that suddenly appears and greets Kosmo with a Laconian grin. There is a noticeable tension in their common scenes: While Klaus occurs with charismatic serenity, Kosmo hardly seems to be able to get involved in a conversation or an encounter. The interaction of the two characters creates a area of tension between the past and the present, closeness and inner distance.
Conclusion: “Rave on” dipped deeply into a intoxicating Berlin techno party and accompanies his protagonist on a journey of self-assurance-worn by beats, memories, drugs and the desire for a fresh start. A musically driven intoxication film about the emotional heights and abysses of a club night, which distinguishes that life continues to pulsate, despite all the fractures.