Ulrich Seidl brings down the curtain on his Paradise trilogy; a trio of movies linked by theme and by the relation between the three heroines (two sisters and a daughter). It was shaping up to be a trilogy of descending quality, as Paradise: Love's freshness gave way to Paradise: Faith's repetitiveness but Paradise: Hope's heart and subtle optimism end things on a slightly upbeat note.
Melanie (Lenz) is an overweight teenager forced to spend the summer in a diet camp (presumably as the events of Love and Faith are unfolding). She rooms with three others but one girl, Lehbauer, becomes a confidant in all things, especially in her love for the camp's doctor, Lorenz. Lorenz is only too aware of the effect he has on the impressionable Melanie but when the creepy flirting turns into something else he suddenly finds himself struggling with his inner demons.
After two depressing instalments, Seidl goes out on a high. Or as high as Seidl can get. We're given the impression that Lorenz is a dab hand at seducing these young girls. He at first delights in the little meetings between Melanie and himself but then something happens; he sees something in her that perhaps reminds him of his own daughter (does he even have one?) or reminds him that he is in the care of this girl. We're left to assume a lot but, either way, when he begins to distance himself from Melanie's clumsy advances, Seidl succumbs to the idea that while there is badness in all of us-and he's shown us enough of that- we may be inherently good.
Seidl deals with Melanie's growing crush with affection – it isn't mocked, she isn't ridiculed for having these feelings. These are small moments in a movie, but they represent a seismic shift in a belief system for the Austrian writer-director. We shouldn't expect him a comedy from him in the near future, however.
