Too much of everything

So much average

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

I wanted to watch this film because I was curious about the details of Ms. Kampusch's kidnapping and her life before and after. And partly also, to be perfectly honest, because of the horror of it all. I don't want to label us all as emotional and violence porn freaks for watching this, but there's a certain part of that in it, too. After all, if we all just wanted the facts, then why watch a dramatization? Why not read about it or watch a documentary?The problem with this film is that is satisfies neither desire. I don't feel significantly more enlightened about the facts and the story, and I didn't get much drama.So what's wrong here?Well, with regards to Natascha's life as to before and after her captivity, this film seems uninterested in it. We are offered but a good handful of minutes dealing with her life before her abduction, and the film ends within minutes of her escape. What is focused on is her life as a hostage, and the time spent on this subject is used to play out the intended drama.Which is the second problem of this film. As a drama, it just doesn't work. And a low budget doesn't justify the reasons for that.One of the problems I have with it comes from the decision on shooting it in English. It seems odd, given that it is a European production set in Austria. In more capable hands such a decision is often a non-issue, but here it becomes a real problem accentuated by decisions on casting non-English speaking actors. As a Dane, I should probably be proud to see two Danes in this film, one of them in a leading role. Truth be told, I think they should have stayed at home.It really makes me wonder what reasons are behind casting Thure Lindhart as Mr. Přiklopil when he looks nothing like Mr. Přiklopil, is not a very good actor, and has always looked like a teenage boy.And while Amelia Pidgeon is actually excellently casted as the 10-year-old Natascha, with her striking physical resemblance to her, Antonia Campbell-Hughes is just such an astoundingly bad choice for teenage Natascha, it makes you wonder just how many people were casted as favors between friends rather than on their merits.Antonia Campbell-Hughes, playing 14-year-old Natascha was 31 while filming. I don't know what else to say but, "why?". And why the need to cast an anorectic? We know that Ms. Kampusch was a chubby kid when abducted, and we know that Přiklopil refused her food to make her lose weight. But, the facts are that when Ms. Kampusch escaped, she was 159.7 cm tall and weighed 48 kg. That's a BMI of 18.8, just within the normal range. So why cast an anorectic 31-year-old for this part if not for shock value?And then the real question arises: Why would you need such a walking-and-talking visual (counterfactual) dramatic shock effect when you're telling a story that is already laden with such horrendous facts?The answer in this case is: Because you don't know how to tell a story. Let's forget the semi-amateurish cinematography and directing that all to often manage to undo those rare occasions where the actors actually succeed in performing convincingly, in spite of having been tasked with portraying flat, single- dimensional characters. The real problem is not that 3096 Days is presented like an episode of The Bold and the Beautiful, the real problem is that unlike that soap opera, it fails to portray complex and interesting characters who interact in meaningful ways in a story arc that is well-structured, well-paced and harmonious.3096 Days presents a series of scenes that dramatize selected moments from the 8½ years of captivity. But as a whole they come out disjointed, failing to create a real sense of continuity. The film rushes and dwells at unfortunate and peculiar times, with the end result being an empathetically dysfunctional viewing experience with no real story progress and very little suspense. We all know what's going to happen, so why are we still watching? The director and script writers aren't offering any good reasons.When you are telling a story that everyone knows already, you focus on the people, and on the details. You find the small story that tells the big story. Sadly, there is no story here. There's not a lot of people, either. What is going on around Přiklopil's house during these years is only really focused on when an outsider intervenes for some reason. For instance, the time spent (clumsily) showing us how Natascha's family are dealing with their lives without her should be counted in seconds, not minutes.But isn't this an extremely difficult task considering the actual events and their all- too-long time span? Yes. Shouldn't I then be lenient with my critique? On the contrary, I think it is only showing disrespect to tell a story like this if you're not capable of doing it properly. Let someone else do it, then.On the positive side, the acting is all right at times. The reconstruction of the surroundings seems to be spot-on judging from police photographs. There are a few effective scenes in the film, most notably one with the just abducted Natascha waking up to face her empty cell, which in its simplicity overwhelms you with the dread and despair she must be feeling. And last but not least, Ms. Kampusch will receive royalties whenever someone watches this film.Bottom line: I didn't get the drama my inner empathy porn freak hoped for, and my curious freak now wants even more to watch an actual documentary on this tragedy.

American-German screenwriter and director Sherry Hormann's ninth feature film which was written by screenwriters Ruth Toma and Peter Reichard, is an adaptation of an unfinished screenplay by German filmmaker Bernd Eichinger and the autobiography of Austrian author Natascha Kampusch from 2010. It premiered in Germany, was screened in the German Cinema section at the 64th Berlin International Film Festival in 2014, was shot on locations in Germany and is a German production which was produced by producer Martin Moszkovich. It tells the story about a ten-year-old student, daughter and sister named Natascha Kampusch who lives in a house in the capital city of Austria with her parents, and who one day whilst on her way to school is abducted by a thirty-six-year-old unemployed telecommunications technician in a white van named Wolfgang Priklopil and taken to his residence.Distinctly and precisely directed by German filmmaker Sherry Hormann, this finely paced and somewhat fictional tale which is narrated mostly from the two main characters' viewpoints, draws a densely abridged portrayal of a premeditated crime where an adolescent girl is forced to act out her part in an Austrian man's escapist fantasy and engage in a non-existing relationship which he has constructed in his mind. While notable for its naturalistic and atmospheric milieu depictions, reverent cinematography by German cinematographer Michael Ballhaus, production design by production designer Bernd Lepel, costume design by costume designer Gabrielle Binder and use of sound, colors and light, this narrative-driven story about psychological oppression, physical assault, starvation, lost adolescence, pathological possession of another person's free will and capacity of survival where an enslaved girl is told a tale about a prince whom has found his princess and where acting goes beyond its boundaries and envisages the art of getting into the spirit of ones character, depicts two merging studies of character and contains a timely score by composer Martin Todsharow. This mindfully biographical, efficiently theatrical and utterly heartrending character piece which is set in Wien, Austria in the late 20th century and 21st century, which reconstructs real events in the life of a then child who was kidnapped by a stranger in the late 1990s, and where a person whose main concern is returning to her mother and father starts a game of pretend in a basement room her perpetrator has locked her into which she maintains in their interactions, and which he discovers and begins directing to sustain his imposed mental power, is impelled and reinforced by its cogent narrative structure, substantial character development, subtle continuity, depictions of Natascha Maria's inhumane condition and the conscientious acting performances by Northern Irish actress Antonia Campbell-Hughes and Danish actor Thure Lindhardt. An atmospheric, authentically surreal and cinematographic narrative feature.

This story about the abduction of 10-year-old Austrian girl Natascha Kampusch and her 3096 days in the hands of her kidnapper Wolfgang Priklopil is done without any skill that reaches more than a below-average German TV movie (and that is BAD, for those who are not familiar with such exploits). Not only that it is slow in pace and filmed in a completely bland style without and sense for atmosphere (speaking of "direction" or cinematography - which is, believe it or not - done by world famous cinematographer Michael Ballhaus! - or editing) - it doesn't deliver anything that is even slightly compelling. All attempts at creating a menacing or desperate feel regarding the girl's imprisonment are falling flat and running empty - and these are the only adjectives that come to mind when watching this really unnecessary and awful film.

As awful and gruesome as the actual story of Natascha Kampusch was and is, then having seen this movie, I must admit that I sit here with a somewhat foul taste in my mouth. Parts of me are appalled that this was actually turned into a movie - and whether it be for telling her story or making a profit matters not - then there is no particular need to put sick stories like this on the movie screen. So what is next a movie about Josef Fritzl?The story was directed and told nicely enough, but still not really something that the world of cinema needed to have added to its vault. However, all throughout the movie, there was just something profound lacking from the story to really portray that Natascha was being kept against her will - it just wasn't there, so whether it was a flaw on the directing or the acting, I have no idea.One thing that always puzzles me is why they don't make these kind of movies in the appropriate language according to where they take place? It was really discrediting to the story that people were speaking British English throughout the entire movie.Thure Lindhardt, playing Wolfgang Priklopil, was the one carrying this movie by all means. He put on a great performance, but towards the end it turned a bit tedious."3096 Days" (or "3096 Tage") is a slow paced movie that deals with a rather horrible story. And we all have different opinions about such matters, and mine is that it is really distasteful to cash in on horrible events such as this. I can understand why Nastascha Kampusch would write the book that she did to help deal with what she went through, but this movie was entirely unnecessary and shouldn't have seen the light of day.