The Forest for the Trees (2003)

Humor: 0
Blood: 0
Nudity: 0
Minutes FF’ed thru: maybe 5, but should have more
Overall rating: 1
Other: In German with English subtitles

Melanie, a new school teacher, moves to a new school and city, and tries to find her place and make her mark. The students are very disrespectful, and any self-confidence she came with, quickly fades away. She meets her neighbor, Tina, and starts hanging out with her, but after a few get togethers, Tina doesn't seem as gung-ho about the new friendship. Melanie also struggles in her professional life, and doesn't quite fit in with the other teachers. Even though there's one that's fond of her, she shows little interest in return.

She continues to help Tina out, but becomes bothersome and gets blown off, and is finally told to buzz off. Her students continue to overpower her, and she finally loses it. So, one day, she walks out of class, gets in her car, and takes a drive. While cruising through the countryside, she climbs in the backseat, and allows the vehicle to take it’s course. The screen goes black, credits roll, The End.

By the description, this has potential to be a decent movie. But, from the first scene, as it appears to be shot with a digital camcorder, you realize it could be headed for disaster. There wasn’t really a single element that kept me involved in the story, except for my hopes that she might go off the deep end and either go ape-shit on someone, kill them, or in her attempt to get attention, start tramping around. I also wasn’t quite sure if her attraction to her neighbor was merely that of a friend wanting companionship, or maybe feelings of sexuality. This was a really crappy movie, and I hate wasting over an hour watching it. It's title is, The Forest for the Trees, so if you happen to see a copy of this, run and hide it deep in the forest, so no one else will stumble upon it. I also have a hard time believing that this won an award, but then again, who was on Sundance's “Special Jury,” and what other entries were against it?