Look! Film Club Presents – Rimini

In the wintry coastal town of Rimini, Italy, Richie Bravo (Michael Thomas), plies a dismal trade as an aging and fading demi-idol popstar, performing for coach parties of elderly German-speaking ladies. He supplements his meagre performance fees by sleeping with women from the audience for money.

Following the death of his mother, and a brief union with his brother, Richie’s life takes an downward turn, as his adult daughter Tessa (Tessa Göttlicher), unexpectedly appears, to demand the child support that Richie never paid. Finding a newfound sense of familial duty, Richie attempts to embezzle and cheat his way to fulfilling the debt.

A vivid, oddly alluring portrait of monstrous self-ignorance, desolate Rimini is the stage for justice to be served.

Director: Ulrich Seidl

Cast: Michael Thomas, Tessa Göttlicher, Hans-Michael Rehberg

114 minutes, Germany, France, Austria, 2022, CLUB.

★★★★ “Ulrich Seidl’s lounge singer is so horrible, he may be brilliant.” – Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

“A shiveringly precise slow burn that continues to burrow new tunnels in the mind long after it ends.” – Jessica Kiang, Variety

“Rimini is a beautiful film… every shot by Wolfgang Thaler – Seidl’s regular cinematographer – achieves a perfection of theme that’s often gorgeous.” – Nick James, Sight & Sound