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Ekateryna Rak, Paul Hofmann, Michael Thomas, Maria Hofstätter, Petra Morzé ... see more see more... , Georg Friedrich , Natalya Baranova , Natalia Epureanu , Erich Finsches , Lidiya Oleksandrivna Savka , Dmytro Andriyovich Gachkov , Oksana Ivaniva Skylarenko , Christina York , Brigitte Kren

Director Ulrich Seidl's despairing, relentlessly downbeat social drama Import/Export unfolds against the backdrop of contemporary Europe. Olga (Ekateryna Rak) is a single mother struggling to raise he... read more read more...r child with a very meager income from her nursing job in a Ukrainian hospital. In desperation, she takes a job as a nude webcam model for an adult entertainment outfit that caters to German men, then quickly decides that life in her town is unbearable, and ultimately leaves her child with her mother, heading west to search for a better life. Meanwhile, in Austria, ne'er-do-well loser Pauli (Paul Hofmann) lives with his mother and his greasy-haired stepfather, Michael (Michael Thomas), to whom he's increasingly indebted. Pauli is training to be a security guard, but gets stripped, then relentlessly beaten and assaulted by a gang of youths. Eventually, Pauli and Michael hit the road together, delivering poker and gumball machines to locations across Eastern Europe, and Michael reveals a truly degenerate side, using his time on the road for a string of sexual encounters with different women. At the same time, Olga makes her way to Austria, enduring a series of occupations including those of au pair, maid, and eventually, charwoman in a geriatric hospital plagued by mistreatment of the elderly. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

Flixster Users

75% liked it

1,475 ratings

Critics

83% liked it

30 critics

Unrated, 2 hr. 15 min.

Directed by: Ulrich Seidl

Release Date: May 21, 2006

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DVD Release Date: January 26, 2010

Stats: 161 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (161)

  • deano
    April 9, 2009
    deano
    The story takes place in both Ukraine and Austria and focuses on 2 lives of very different people who share a similar circumstance of being at the end of the line in the place that they live in. Both seek change and their circumstances take very different shapes and fates but sha... read morere a similar intention, to find a better life.
    The director and writer give us little hope in their depiction of 2 lives and how their environments constantly conspire to either keep them down or challenge their will to survive and change. It is a story at once about Eastern Europe and a story about the world's 'lower classes' and their monumental struggle against inertia and their past. It is a movie filled with images, humor, highs and lows, and, graphic scenes of sexual play that all add to the base quality of the human experience that exists not only in Eastern Europe, but, many place in the world.
  • gor41
    February 19, 2009
    gor41
    Brutally vivid analysis of East/West relations today with an unsparingly honest portrayal of the bleak situations the two main protagonists find themselves in. Easier to admire and learn from than enjoy, however.
  • panta2
    July 26, 2010
    panta2
    This Austrian film directed by Ulrich Seidl was nominated for the Palme d'Or in the 2007 Cannes Film Festival and won the Grand Prix - Golden Apricot reward in Yerevan International Film Festival. Shot in Vienna, Ukraine, Romania, the Czech Republic and Slovakia from 2005 until M... read moreay 2007, using 16mm and 35mm lenses, gives us feeling of a documentary with real dramatic style.

    The movie follows Olga - Ukrainian woman from Uzhhorod, and Pauli - young man from Vienna, Austria and gives us insight in their dreams, mistakes, experiences, disappointment and love... Wonderful work of art! After 135 minutes of watching I wanted MORE!
  • GabrielKnight
    June 13, 2011
    GabrielKnight
    A bleak movie about an existence of 2 people, one in Easter Europe, and one in Western. The depiction of post-communist Ukrainian life is spot on. The director doesn't patronize the viewer so it's entirely up to the audience to decide how to feel for the characters. The dialogue ... read moreis completely improvised so it feels very natural. The movie unfortunately tends to drag at times, and also it maybe a bit difficult to follow if you don't understand either Russian or German.
  • columbiatch
    August 6, 2009
    columbiatch
    A very problematic film. On one hand Seidl sets out to show the cruel struggle of the two main characters to make a living in foreign lands, having to work in some quite unpleasant jobs. There is compassion in the way they are portrayed. On the other hand there is an exploitat... read moreive side to the way Seidl films the other people, a taste for the grotesque, a taste for the comic absurd that often comes across as condescending to its characters. The harsh treatment of patients in the hospital for the old and senile are reminiscent of the mental ward in Titicut Follies, particularly the absurd party at the end. The film loves to linger on these mentally incapacitated people, loves to listen to their senseless mutterings. It's during these scenes of cruelty that the film rears its misogynistic head. It wants to have its cake and eat it too. It strives for social critique but lacks the insight to be effective. It decries human exploitation but practices it in its own way. Then there is the question of how Seidl could have gotten informed consent from the patients, who are not exactly capable of giving it. Or does the fact that it's a fictional film negate such necessity?

View All Import/Export Reviews

Critic Reviews

V.A. Musetto
July 31, 2009
V.A. Musetto, New York Post

The mood is as dismal as the weather in Import/Export, by Austrian auteur Ulrich Seidl. Full Review

Manohla Dargis
July 31, 2009
Manohla Dargis, New York Times

Ulrich Seidl's Import Export is an unflinching, at times almost unbearably hard yet moral look at human exploitation. Full Review

Scott Foundas
July 21, 2009
Scott Foundas, Village Voice

Seidl's film arguably offers the toughest (and toughest to stomach) portrait of individuals tempest-tossed by the currents of the new global economy. Full Review

Russell Edwards
May 23, 2007
Russell Edwards, Variety

Miserable but masterful. Full Review

Ray Bennett
May 22, 2007
Ray Bennett, Hollywood Reporter

A tawdry little film ostensibly about the cultural clashes resulting from the proximity of former Soviet states, such as the Ukraine, to western nations such as Austria. There is a film to be made on ...

Jeffrey M. Anderson
February 5, 2010
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid

Import Export adds the welcome element of humanity to stand between the cruelty and humor. Full Review

Robin Clifford
January 21, 2010
Robin Clifford, Reeling Reviews

There is never a moment telegraphed in the story...keeping me interested and attentive throughout its 2 hour runtime. Full Review

Laura Clifford
January 18, 2010
Laura Clifford, Reeling Reviews

Eastern work ethic vs. the softer West. It is clear who Seidl sides with. Full Review

Matthew Nestel
August 6, 2009
Matthew Nestel, Boxoffice Magazine

Technically, the sedate yet stunning 35mm camera is there for the ride and somehow never imposes or dominates the content. And the result is a true triumph. Full Review

Avi Offer
August 4, 2009
Avi Offer, NYC Movie Guru

Occasionally drags, but offers a relentlessly stark glimpse into the morbid, tragic life of two lost souls who haven't found happiness or prosperity. Full Review

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