Kern

‘What kind of film are you actually making? Surely there’s no point?’ Peter Kern’s blunt criticism in the opening scene of this documentary dedicated to him is certainly not the last he will express. Yet the makers, Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala, continue to sketch a portrait of the homosexual Austrian director/actor/writer/singer.
The more-than-obese Kern, who curses, groans and manipulates, is followed for 18 months – in his home, on the set and while he watches excerpts of his own work. ‘You’ll never see the real me’, he exclaims, but the camera captures revealing moments.
For instance, when he sobs as he watches a scene from his documentary Knutschen, kuscheln, jubilieren (1998). Or when, his gigantic body bared, he sings a song at first reluctantly but later with increasing conviction. The last scenes put everything else in a totally different light. Might Kern be right after all?

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