Product Description

Add to this list of surreal masterpieces, TUVALU, the whimsical comedic fantasy from visionary filmmaker Veit Helmer and one of the most surprising and critically acclaimed films in recent years.

TUVALU is a visually wild fairy-tale love story, where no one talks and yet emotions are clearly communicated through movement and expressions. Young apprentice and daydreamer Anton (Denis Lavant of Beau Travail) is an eccentric loner who dreams of the open seas and works in a vast, once-grand bathhouse. Now ancient and crumbling pool is where local citizens go to escape their dreary lives. Into this world comes the beautiful young Eva, (Chulpan Hamatova of Advertising Rules), who has a similar desire for adventure as Anton and finds herself drawn to his strange ways. Unfortunately Gregor, Anton's evil older brother, plots to tear down the bathhouse and the surrounding town to make way for his real estate development, and Anton need to save both his bathhouse and win Eva's heart.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #44925 in DVD
• Released on: 2002-09-24
• Rating: Unrated
• Formats: Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 86 minutes

Review
Wildly whimsical... might one day find itself in the hall of fame of surreal movie weirdness alongside cult favorites like Eraserhead and Delicatessen! --New York Times

Review
It's not often that a critic's jaw drops at the movies to gape in wonder and delight. Then again, it is not often that a critic (or any audience) gets to see a film as deliriously inventive and utterly enchanting as the comic fable TUVALU... an art house amazement, a must-see cult classic! --The Hartford Courant

Review
This one-of-a kind charmer casts an immediate and delightful spell! --Los Angeles Times

Customer Reviews

Beautiful, sweet, funny
My husband and I rented Tuvalu last night. From the box, it appeared to have the same feel as City of Lost Children, Delicatessen, Amelie, etc, which we liked a lot. Not knowing that the movie had little to no dialogue, at the rental store, we tried to determine what language it was in, and if it was subtitled. The box does not list these things, however, someone at the rental store decided to mark "subtitled" on the DVD case (does anyone at these rental stores ever WATCH the movies before they put them on the shelves?)

After watching a few minutes and realizing that the entire movie would be pantomimed, we adjusted our expectations accordingly and enjoyed the movie. What few words are spoken are either obvious as to what they mean, someone's name, or in English.

The movie is a sweet story. The imagery is wonderful, and certain shots, such as that of Eva swimming with her goldfish, caught me as very beautiful. We also loved the tinting of the film - changing from black & white, to sepia, to blues, etc.

After the movie, we watched the special 6 minute short film "Surprise" also on the DVD. "Surprise" was hilarious and kept me giggling even after the short was over.

Since this was just a rental for us, and thus we don't own it, I'm definately adding it to my wish list.

Outstanding
I was very sceptical at first, after reading all the reviews and seeing the screenshots. But the movie exceeded all the expectations and revealed a new dimension in the world of cinema. It is not a cilent movie, but only a few words are spoken, however the director and the actors managed to kept me mesmerized and captivated from the beginning till the very end. I only wish this movie were twice, no three times longer, and after it finished I kept reliving the episodes and the atmosphere for many hours and days. Chulpan Khamatova is utterly fascinating and her character is not only unforgettable, but also very personalized and lively. I will watch this movie again many times.

Tuvalu - a masterpiece by Veit Helmer
Tuvalu is a simple lovestory about a man who tries to save an old bath institut from being closed. His evil brother wants to earn alot of money and therefore tries to sell the building. One day a mysteri girl shows up and he falls for her at once. But so does his brother and a competition starts between them but he can not compete with the brother because he doesn't have alot of money to impress her with. The story develops and soon the and the bathinstituit are almost out of his range, but then things starts top happen.

The film is very beautyfull shot and veit helmer really makes this simple story work. The acting is exstremly good even though it sometimes looks animated. But the best part of the film is that the launguage is international and therefore doesn't have to be subtitlet. The film is inspirede by especially Emir Kustorica.