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Thomas Nola

To The Wolves – Thomas Nöla (2007)

Old Europa Cafe proved to have more films of Nöla. Here we have a prequel to “The Doctor”.

This time no narrating Douglas P., but the film does have to DIJ songs.

The film is mostly about Bruno Helden, a philosophical man who meets The Doctor (because the latter pricks in his eye!). The Doctor was raised by wolves and blood thirst has stuck to him. The two set out to travel together in which way they meet strange people and strange situations.

Just as in “The Doctor” the film mostly revolves around interesting-sounding monologues and witty replies. The acting and camera work have improved somewhat since “The Doctor”, the staging and props are still… well, I suppose there was no big budget.

Just as with Nöla’s other film, it is amusing to see what ‘an underground film’ can be like, but do not expect a masterpiece.

Get your copy from Old Europa Café.

The Doctor – Thomas Nöla (2005)

I have been looking for this film for quite some time, but each time I had no luck. The film features Douglas P. which is how I heard about it. P. also features in the recently reviewed “Pearls Before Swine“, but there he has an actual part, in “The Doctor” his is the narrator.

Nöla wrote both the book and the film and only recently I noticed that a DVD can be ordered from Old Europa Cafe. This is fitting, since films that a recently saw (“Pearls”, “Lords Of Chaos“) and also this one of course have a connection with the music that I listen(ed) to, so getting it from a ‘scene label’ is appropriate.

“The Doctor” being a small production, could I even say ‘an underground film’?, will probably not make you expect a perfect and well-produced film.

In some ways it reminds of “Pearls Before Swine”. The acting is not too convincing, the protagonist is a narcissistic, brute, foul-mouthed, over-philosophical character that likes to hold lengthy monologues with difficult words and wild ideas.

The doctor from the title appears to be some sort of psychiatrist, but he is also his own patient. Haunted by a former patient of his, the doctor slides into a surrealistic world from which he tries to form ideas about the world outside and inside himself.

Just as with “Pearls” the film is not entirely amateurish. There are some alright scenes and some original ideas. Again it is a small production to watch some time just to see what it is exactly.