best movie i've ever seen.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

And it's not a quality dinner, but something you'd throw into the garbage can right away, also in terms of the cinematic quality we have here. "Cannibal" is a German German-language movie from 2006, so it has its 10th anniversary this year. The writer and director is Marian Dora and he is certainly known to fans of gore and splatter films for his approach to movie making. This 90-minute movie we have here is among his most known works and it deals with the story of Armin Meiwes, a German who was sentenced to life in prison for killing and eating his "victim". I write "victim" because the other guy willingly agreed to what Meiwes did to him. So it is definitely an interesting story that deserves its own movie. But not in the way it was done here. Dora does not focus on quality filmmaking or writing, but only wants to make it as vomit-inducing as possible, for example with the very graphic scene where the protagonist cuts off the other guy's penis. The two lead actors are Carsten Frank and Victor Brandl and admittedly they aren't very memorable at all, especially Frank is entirely forgettable despite playing a character that really could have stayed in your mind with the right actor touching the role. The overall thing looks fairly amateurish I must say from start to finish and this does refer to the physical quality of the movie as well as the pretentious Hansel and Gretel voice-over by German horror film acting legend Manoush, As a whole, this film does not do the subject any justice at all. The filmmaker's attempts to make this something like a romance movie look very clumsy and do not work at all in the face of all the violence depicted graphically in here. And after all, if this is a love story film then it is about the most normal thing in the world, isn't it? But then it goes completely against the idea of being special enough to turn it into a film. There is no other motivation behind these 1.5 hours than to shock as many people as possible. I don't recommend the watch. Thumbs down and a major one indeed.

This film has very little dialogue, very much male nudity, and is gross, but not in the way you would think... Basically the gore is good not great, the actors do a good job making us believe they are mentally unstable, but the main thing that irked me in this film, and its a LITTLE thing... but the guy cant chew with his mouth closed! Wine spilling, food falling, slopping sounds, its ANNOYING AND JUST NASTIER THAN THE CASTRATION. Also the actors will do these gasps that sound like they are coming from the back of their throat and not their lungs, which is gross too, its just a dirty movie and possibly the CLEANEST scene is the castration... Thanks for listening 5/10.

This reminded me of a two man version of "In the Realm of the Senses" in regards to focusing primarily on the physicality of a relationship than a layered story or strict narrative. Going with that, "Cannibal" is probably THE most twisted "love" drama out there in the wide world of cinema. While it doesn't succeed in the normal sense, it's a film for most that is going to be incredibly difficult to watch, not because it's overly sad or intentionally going for terror, but because as you're witnessing the bizarre events unfold you realize this was based on a real life encounter between Arwin Meiwes and Bernd Jurgen Brandes of Germany only five years prior to the film being released. The filmmakers included their own poetic license but left the rest up to our two friends to fill in the rest with their piece of strange history committed.This is paced very slowly, at a purposeful rate and with extremely tight close-ups to the point of where it's hard to focus on what's going at moments. Communication wise, this goes for subtlety and tone rather than a reliance on dialogue. The music gives more mood towards sentiment than ominous overtures to come like in a typical horror movie going for suspense. This definitely has the potential to be shocking but the filmmakers leave that up to the viewer, as everything is shown point-blank, as is, no acceptance or dismissal of it: it was what it was. I found it downright uncomfortable, as it plays on odd and unfamiliar fetishes between two men that includes frequent kissing, fondling, tender touches and insertion. Not to mention it treats the material extremely personal without a hint of cutting away. There's no break here, except if you count dining on some privy body parts, lounging around completely nude with unsightly appendages dangling this way or that, or soaking up the sun while feeding a garden with left over human remains.This won't make tops of lists of items to watch again, nor is it a film to invite others over to see with you. That is unless you've got time on your hands with some explaining to do, or you're playing a daring game of who can keep their eyes on the screen longest without covering up or looking away. It's hard to call this a "good" film. Though in the basic and unconventional framework that it delivers in it's an effective one. I haven't had to take a break when watching a picture since seeing "Salo"; this is even over no story exploitation pictures like "The Devil's Experiment" and "Aftermath" where I've killed a party and had other people leave the room, never to let me put on another film again. I can't say I agree with anything I seen here but the filmmakers were able to display a certain event without even having to inject little horror-like scares, but by just showing the audience what happened behind those walls that you'll wish never came down. If you didn't take the hint: get out now. This isn't scary, as you'll probably win the lottery and get struck by lightning in the same day before it happens to you. Except for maybe giving hope to those strange folks who's irregular interests stunt dating, the regular viewer won't be put in their shoes and there are no real relating points that are emphasized here, such as with the movie "Grimm Love" about the same subject and the whole sentimental approach and look into their background.In the end there isn't a big purpose as it leaves absolutely nothing to the imagination, guy soiling himself as he's missing his member and then leaking out the other end as he's dying and all. They squeezed in some tie-ins to "The Brothers Grimm" for some ambiguous meaning that seems a lost cause, though it doesn't appear like there is anything to ponder about here, except maybe why they would do this with each other and have the other one so willing to be a participant, or even how two guys like this lived so close? Is it just a modern thing, is the Internet the accelerator? There aren't going to be any heroes or villains, story arcs, layered surprises, just a non-stop candid look up to, during and briefly after these mens' interaction. Nothing fundamentally more, nothing sincerely less. (See my profile and click chronological for the first review "Grimm Love" or the third review of "Downloading Nancy.") (Also submitted on http://fromblacktoredfilmreviews.blogspot.com/)

"Cannibal" is reminiscent of Jorg (Nekromantik) Buttgereit's work, but far more emotional. As other reviewers have said, it is a stark film with VERY little dialog. It doesn't need it. Obviously if you are watching this film, you have sought it out and know exactly what you are in store for. You know the story, you know about the gore. What you don't know is how emotional and tragic the love story is. While certainly not a date movie, it is oddly touching and sad in it's depiction of two men who belong together. While I certainly don't think this is a healthy relationship, it is tragically beautiful and poetic. Is it hard to watch? Absolutely. If you're homophobic or can't handle unshaved European body hair, look elsewhere. The scene where they share the Flesh's body is disturbing, but essential to show their emotional connection and the sadness the men both have inside their souls. Once the "butchery" begins, I thought the movie, only from that point until the final shot, became exploitive. If you've ever scene slaughterhouse footage, you've seen the last 20 minutes of this movie. (Hey, I love meat as much as the next guy, but I don't want to know how it got to my plate. You'll think the same thing as well.) If it would have focused the last 20 minutes on their last meal together and the Man's coping of the consummation of their love, it would have been perfect. Unfortunately, we're left with a brilliant, but flawed, tale of tragic love. Don't watch it expecting "Cannibal Holocaust" and go in with an open mind and you will be well rewarded.