Florian Habicht's (Kaikohe Demolition) award-winning documentary (kind of, it's also a drama and a comedy and a romance) about love, cake and New York City, which brought the house down on the opening night of the New Zealand International Film Festival.
"Habicht and Masha Yakovenko make a gorgeous duo in Love Story, in which the director-actor plays himself, a Kiwi Film-maker in New York, who meets a Russian woman (Yakovenko) on the subway, falls in love, and convinces her to make a movie about their blossoming romance. Although how much of it is real is for the audience to decide... what ever the case, the movie looks to catapult the eccentric filmmaker to new heights." -Scott Kara, Canvas Magazine.
"It follows Florian, in New York, as he pursues Masha - a beauty he spies on the subway one day, carrying a single slice of cake on a plate. Infatuated, Florian asks the people of New York, a psychic and his dad (via Skype) for advice on love and also "What should happen next in the movie?" You've never seen a film like this." -Flicks.co.nz NZIFF 2011 Review.
I apologise, we feel bad, but there's no trailer available. ~Ed.
It was brilliant to see Florian Habicht, his candypants and his ever-unpredictable demeanour stride on stage at the Civic to open this year’s International Film Festival and even more so to see all of the above onscreen in Love Story. The film encompasses a number of journeys: the personal one of a new filmmaker gaining a confident voice, the literal and cultural trip from New Zealand to New York, and the onscreen missions from Habicht’s apartment home base to all sorts of spots around the Big Apple as he seeks guidance on where his film should go. This conceit, that the people Habicht meets drive the narrative component of Love Story, is realised brilliantly and provides the perfect opportunity for his personality to win strangers over as we’ve come to see in his excellent documentary work.
It may be his first time in front of the camera, and with this comes some endearing awkwardness, but Habicht has always had a strong presence in his films. In Kaikohe Demolition and Land of the Long White Cloud, for instance, we became almost as familiar with his personality as those of his subjects. Love Story shows he’s just as good as getting New Yorkers to open up as he is New Zealanders and, in blending a revealing and often surreal story (yep, a love story) with vox pops, he’s come up with a unique film that will have no problem winning audiences over with it’s singular take on New York and a new romance.
By Steve Newall, Flicks.co.nz
i really felt i was part of it just by watching. A high speed car chase of fascinating characters and delicious image making.
Even though I fell asleep briefly, I left with a warm feeling. Initially I was underwhelmed, but loved the feel of NYC & the real NYC people woven into the story.
Just brilliant. I enjoyed the movie and the random introduction given before the screening.
So funny, sweet, weird and interesting!! Awesome to see New York and meet the people too.
Florian Habicht has a masterful way of extracting the magic from any given subject: his open heart and big smile disarms even the most tired soul and makes them open up in ways that surprise both us and them. So a collaboration between this film-maker and the crazy city of New York is already set to produce fabulous fireworks and intimate magic. In 'Love Story' Habicht embarks on a perilous journey with his camera, with no script and uncertain of the path that lies ahead of him as he approaches a stranger on the street in search of love. What follows is a beautiful development of the concerns examined in 'Rubbings From A Live Man': his stunning documentary on the life of NZ theatre director Warwick Broadhead. However, in 'Love Story' Habicht becomes the subject alongside his stunning co-star, Masha Yakovenko, who, after the chance encounter on the subway becomes involved in the film and the romance that follows. The people of New York play a significant role in deciding the course of this romance/narrative, love/story as Florian approaches them for relationship advice and/or scriptwriting tips. It is such a treat in film-making today to have the ability as an audience to play willingly between the imagined and the real, and this film does just that. With the preference for either contrived Hollywood plots or dry factual documentaries it is so refreshing to encounter something in-between: something that is both so imaginative and whimsical yet at the same time feels so honest, unequivocal, and brave. Habicht's love for the city and love for people is what shines through in this ebullient film - it is this same love that disarms his subjects, allowing the people of New York City to open up on screen in beautiful new ways. And in the auditorium too, the guffaws, random applause, and belly laughs indicate that we too are being disarmed by this man with a movie camera, and that we too are falling love...
An eccentric, incredibly clever, improvisational documentary and my all time favourite New Zealand film: Love Story…almost as moving as Titanic.
It winds itself into a charmingly neurotic confusion that seems to speak for the plight of lovers everywhere. A peon to the people on New York’s streets, an absurdist rom-com, a flawless comic subversion; I’m not sure what Love Story is. Possibly genius.
Habicht’s deft hand weaves together all of Love Story’s wayward strands into a single joyous, effusive tapestry, which graces the screen beautifully in its own riotous fashion.
It’s tempting to untangle fact from fiction through the film, but far more satisfying to be swept away by Love Story’s conceit.
The film's charm has a slightly unsettling side too: at one point we sense that Masha and Florian may have different perceptions of what's happening - and our own may be one of theirs, or another perspective altogether. It's an entirely intentional bending of the rules and part of what you might call a dark playfulness that has distinguished everything this unique and original film-maker has done. This deserves to become a Kiwi classic...
We've been told the NZ release date for this flick is Thursday, 11th Aug 2011.
Release date: August 11th 2011.
We haven't received times for this movie in this location yet. However these are updated as cinemas announce them, so check back soon. Hopefully the lovely cinemas in your location will choose to play it shortly. ~Ed.
