In the Basement

Name: In the Basement
Genre: Documentary
Released: November 6, 2015
Duration: 81 min
Rating: 68

2015

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 8 Critic Reviews

See All

USER SCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 4 Ratings

See All

5.8

VOTE NOW

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

5.8	Your Score
5.8	User Score Mixed or average reviews based on 4 Ratings

Would you like to write a review?

There is a 75 character minimum for reviews. If your review contains spoilers, please check the Spoiler box. Please do not use ALL CAPS. There is no linking or other HTML allowed. Your review may be edited for content. 0/5000

Check box if your review contains spoilers

Play Sound

Please enter your birth date to watch this video:

You are not allowed to view this material at this time.

In The Basement

Now Playing: In The Basement

Movie Details & Credits

Strand Releasing | Release Date: November 6, 2015 | Not Rated

Summary: Director Ulrich Seidl delves into yet another exploration of the dark underside of the human psyche with a look at Austrian basements fitted out as private domains for secrets and fetishes. No desire or proclivity is off limits to Seidl’s camera, which takes in the opera-singing gunslinger, the Hitler-loving brass band, a hunter of exoticDirector Ulrich Seidl delves into yet another exploration of the dark underside of the human psyche with a look at Austrian basements fitted out as private domains for secrets and fetishes. No desire or proclivity is off limits to Seidl’s camera, which takes in the opera-singing gunslinger, the Hitler-loving brass band, a hunter of exotic species, and the passionate devotees of S&M with an equal measure of curiosity and compassion. [Strand Releasing]… Expand

Director: Ulrich Seidl

Genre(s): Documentary

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 81 min

See All Details and Credits

Watch Now

Buy on

Stream On

Expand

Metascore

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

Critic Reviews

Diego Semerene

Nov 3, 2015

Cinema hasn't been this close to the dusty cogs of desire's machinery and unapologetic about pleasure since Pasolini. Read full review

The Playlist Jessica Kiang

Nov 5, 2015

Seidl uses the peculiar relationship of Austrians to their basements as a way to pick away at the cracks between our public and our most private selves. But it's an idea that is elevated further by his rigorous eye for composition and cinematographic portraiture that makes the even the most bizarre images beautiful, and fashions the film, which could feel very fragmented in that it jumps from subject to subject and back again, into a deeply engrossing whole. Read full review

Deborah Young

Nov 5, 2015

Make of it what you will, this off-the-wall film essay entertains hugely while it makes the audience squirm in their seats. Read full review

Alan Scherstuhl

Nov 3, 2015

Seidl's study reminds us, with each new basement, that the places where we're most ourselves might as well have grown off us like the shells of mollusks. Read full review

Guy Lodge

Nov 5, 2015

Grabby and grubby in equal measure, this meticulously composed trawl through the contents of several middle-class Austrians’ cellars (a space, according to Seidl, that his countrymen traditionally give over to their most personal hobbies) yields more than a few startling discoveries. Read full review

John Bleasdale

Nov 3, 2015

Seidl is a filmmaker of both talent and merit, but the blatant manipulation of his subjects and the nakedness of his own intentions and dribbling fascination make In the Basement irrelevant as a comment on Austrian society as a whole, and only passingly interesting as an unsurprising picture of what some very odd people do in the privacy of their own homes. Read full review

The Guardian Peter Bradshaw

Nov 5, 2015

With In The Basement, [Seidl] seems to falling back on the same old shocks. The freakiness is losing its capacity to disturb. Read full review

SEE ALL 8 REVIEWS

Write a Review

Negative:

User Reviews

JLuis_001

Aug 19, 2023

Ulrich Seidl's In the Basement doesn't play it easy. While it may appear to extend its narrative beyond an optimal point, this documentary delves into surprising territories. It's particularly intriguing because the content oscillates between the disconcerting and the outrageous.Ulrich Seidl's In the Basement doesn't play it easy. While it may appear to extend its narrative beyond an optimal point, this documentary delves into surprising territories. It's particularly intriguing because the content oscillates between the disconcerting and the outrageous.

Determining the line between reality and Seidl's orchestration contributes to the film's allure. More importantly the director never pretends to tell the viewer that what they are seeing on screen is 100% true and you would have to be very gullible to believe otherwise, so a healthy dose of skepticism is warranted.

Seidl's approach is not to force anyone to express or explain themselves beyond what they describe, even with things that make you question more than one of the situations and objects his subjects talk about and show, but the concept while repetitive was quite interesting if not overly unimpressive.

The film could have exhibited a greater degree of proactivity, but I wasn't disappointed.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

SEE ALL 1 REVIEWS