Blu-ray Review – Grand Jete

"Grand Jete" is a German production about the timeless love between a boy and his mother. Well, perhaps not timeless. And "love" here means "a sudden sexual relationship." Screenwriter Anna Melikova has the challenge of bringing Anke Stelling's book to the screen, making sense of incest and profound psychological problems, which aren't easy to watch. Director Isabelle Stever tries to find her own way to approach such a sensitive topic, electing to fully immerse the picture in a sensorial viewing experience, hoping to generate a special mood to best approach a troubling tale of obsession. "Grand Jete" doesn't go full Haneke, but it comes close, making the viewing experience both compellingly and irritatingly uncomfortable as Stever tries to put together a puzzle of mental illness, keeping away from dramatic structure for as long as possible. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com