Venice

Villalobos

 (Documentary -- Germany)

By LESLIE FELPERIN

A Pantera Films production. (International sales: Pantera Films, Berlin.) Produced by Romuald Karmakar.
Directed, written by Romuald Karmakar.
 
With Ricardo Villalobos, Romuald Karmakar.
 

A docu portrait of Chilean-born, Berlin-based superstar DJ Ricardo Villalobos, "Villalobos" is by turns utterly fascinating and grindingly dull. Following "196 bpm" and "Between the Devil and Wide Blue Sea," the HD-shot pic completes a trilogy of films about electronic music from German helmer Romuald Karmakar. A curio that would only resonate deeply with house music and techno fans (and perhaps some musicologists) in its current form, "Villalobos" could potentially sing to a wider aud on TV if severely edited down, although that might defeat the helmer's entire purpose.

Roughly half of the pic observes Villalobos in his home studio where he listens to new records and discusses them, works on trippy remixes of classical recordings, and shows off the workings of his intricate modular-system synthesizer. Clearly one very smart dude, the engaging Villalobos comes across as a true professional at the top of his game. Unfortunately, the rest of the pic consists of interminably long, underlit takes of him performing to adoring crowds. The music may be fantastic, but the filmmaking is so basic, bland and uninspiring it's more likely to repel potential converts.

Camera (color, HD), Benedict Neuenfels, Karmakar, Katja Sambeth; editors, Robert Thomann, Karin Nowarra. Reviewed at Venice Film Festival (Horizons), Sept. 8, 2009. German, Spanish dialogue. Running time: 119 MIN.