Softness of Bodies Review:

Dasha Nekrasova starts in Jordan Blady's "Softness of Bodies," Courtesy of Rock Salt Releasing.

Charlotte: "I'm so sexy and fun / and fucking doomed."

Softness of Bodies is a film released back in 2018 that depicts a robber/poet living in Germany. A film that shows a character, or even characters, at their worst and sometimes at their best when something adequate goes for them. While I found the film quite eloquently shot and edited, the narrative is the one aspect that fell short for me. But the lead performance from Dasha Nekrasova is quite strong, and one I would like to discuss a little further with.

Nekrasova is not a popular name (yet), but one should start paying attention too once this film becomes more accessible. She carries this film from start to finish, and the film is mainly about her inconveniences and troubles with the law that build up to a satisfying second half that left me asking for more. While not all of her performance is perfect, she stays true to a broken and stone-cold character. At moments she can sometimes go a little over the top, but that deteriorates me from disliking the performance completely.

Dasha Nekrasova rides a bicycle in the streets of Germany in "Softness of Bodies," Courtesy of Rock Salt Releasing.

Much like My Hindu Friend, Softness of Bodies has some dynamic camerawork that allows the viewer to breathe in extremely tight settings. Jordan Blady, the writer and director, clearly has a keen eye for showing characters in distinct ways to convey the emotion that is needed in each scene. He guides the viewer along quite well, which is one of the best parts of watching the film because he gives a viewer to see parts of lower society but yet containing a sense of style, especially in its lighting.

One can comprehend what is going on, especially through Nekrasova down and out American character. She is oblivious of what is happening, but yet still maintains the kind of motivation you would expect from an artist. She cares more about her craft than anything else, including the schlocky relationships she has with a German man who is cheating on his girlfriend for Charlotte, and with her ex boyfriend who happens to be in Germany the same time she is.

Dasha Nekrasova stars a poet struggling to write the best poem of her life in "Softness of Bodies," Courtesy of Rock Salt Releasing.

Nekrasova definitely has a dreadful personality she adds for the character, while not as much anxiety I was hoping for, that aspect does pick up on the latter half of the film. As the narrative comes to a stoppage, there needs to be some extra drama, which is then added from Charlotte to get in trouble with the law and do something at the very end to cause a complete shift in narrative that I thought was brilliant.

But that is where I want to discuss a little more in depth. This shift, which is always a hit or miss for narratives, sticks the landing and got me invested with her motive of finding a way out of an impeccable scenario. Blady shows how foreigners can sometimes be far more strange and dangerous than one might think, which I thought was great storytelling from his part.

Dasha Nekrasova gives a rising performance in "Softness of Bodies," Courtesy of Rock Salt Releasing.

The main issue is how this great change ends far too quickly than I thought. The commitment to the first half of the film is important for this shift, which is why it disappointed me when it ended. As if Blady was running out of time. And the ending to the film has a countless call back that shows the importance of how poverty individuals really develop relationships with not just people, but objects.

And of course the ending is, in a sense, poetic and potentially fitting if one sees it. Again, I find it to be too quick for my liking, especially how I invested in the story and character, and since a narrative happens, I wanted to see how our character would redeem herself and change from that perspective. I think there could have been another hour or so more to this that truly could have elevated the film to new heights.

However, with Softness of Bodies, it manages to take a viewer around various parties in Germany with a character who is suffering from the extremes of love and relationships with others. That sometimes we create these awful scenarios through our liking of entertainment and sex. It can be quite a meandering film, but once that back half hits, it's extremely intriguing since the pace picks up. One that I think people should check out for the cinematography and performance from Nekrasova. It's going to be on Amazon Prime Video on Feb. 14 so check it out if you think it would be worth the viewing.

Run Time: 1 Hour 14 Minutes