Enlightenment Guaranteed (1999) / AvaxHome

Erleuchtung garantiert (Enlightenment Guaranteed) is a 1999 German film directed by Doris Dörrie about two brothers, Uwe (Uwe Ochsenknecht) and Gustav (Gustav-Peter Wöhler), who travel to Japan to sort out the mess of their lives. Their plan is to visit the Sojiji Monastery in Monzen, near Tokyo. On their way there, in a rather literal Buddhist moment, they lose all of their belongings. When they at last make it to the monastery, they find that even there, enlightenment can be elusive.

Though I haven't seen a lot of John Casavetes' work, apart from that, this is one of the best modern (read: 1985-present) uses of 8mm film that I've ever seen. This is one of those films you just have to throw yourself into. I'm not drawing a parallel between the two–at all!–but people who have seen 'Neon Genesis Evangelion' will recall how by the end of the first episode you had no idea what was going on, right alongside the principle character. This movie has a similar feel–It's unsettling at first, but ultimately presents itself as a curiously wonderful juxtaposition of warmth and coldness; interrelation and alienation. Very few films are capable of doing this well. Oh, and as a side note – this is NOT one of those aimlessly meandering art films hell-bent on using 8mm to generate indie/underground credibility. In sum: a thoughtfully rewarding film about two very different German brothers lost in Japan and discovering a fine gray line dividing the point of no return from the point just before it and overcoming that dualism.