Paradise an ‘up’ for director

Russian director Andrey Konchalovskiy has had his ups: House of Fools (2002) set inside a mental hospital during the First Chechen War, and his downs: The Nutcracker in 3D (2010), which feels like it was made in one.

House of Fools won the Grand Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival. His newest, Paradise, took home the Silver Lion when it played there last year, so we can be pretty sure he’s on an upswing this time.

The story is set in Nazi-occupied France and, later, Germany.

Yuliya Vysotskaya (the director’s wife) stars as Olga, a Russian aristocrat picked up during a Nazi raid in Paris. The local police chief suggests things will go easier if she sleeps with him, but before that can happen he is killed by the Resistance, and Olga winds up in a concentration camp.

Enter Khelmut (Christian Clauss), another aristocrat, this time German. A misguided mystic, Khelmut joins the SS in hopes of helping to create a “German paradise” on Earth. Himmler gives him a job rooting out corruption in the camps.

But in Konchalovskiy’s story, no one is above decay. When Khelmut’s colleague starts raving about how he’s immortal, it’s a sign to take the man’s pistol and take him away as well. No matter how much we may try to recreate Eden, our efforts are mostly characterized by how far they fall short of success.