austrianmoviebuff After his brief appearance in Greenaway's "The Tulse Luper Suitcases" and before his three-months-run as Puck on West End, Andre Schneider found the time to write, co-produce and star in this film, apparently his most personal one to date.Schneider plays Nathaniel Griffin, a hustler getting hired by two rich siblings who, after having him under the influence of cocaine, ecstasy and various other drugs, paint playing cards all over his body and cut them out. The last scene is a breath-stealer, but the rest of the movie is often slow-moving and the siblings, played by Barbara Kowa and Rainer Wittenauer, fail completely to intrigue. Schneider's performance, though, remains a justifiable reason to sit through this, it's an impressive knock-out.The nicely photographed film suffers from the sheer unbearable narcissism of the director whose crashing self-love screws the otherwise beautifully written and acted film up. Most of the time, Biermann seems to say, "I'm the director, I outsmart you all, you're just some stupid audience." If you can deal with this attitude, you will enjoy "Deed Poll".After a string of equally disappointing works in Germany, Schneider turned his attention to France, Great Britain, Ireland and Spain, where he gave stellar performances in interesting films like "La Silla" and "La paz de tus ojos tristes".

Orrrrrti "Deed Poll" is one of my favourite films of the past few years. A quiet tip of a movie, with some touching performances (André Schneider as Nathaniel, Gianni Meurer as his brother, and Martina Schaak in her portrayal of a lawyer with a chequered past are very convincing) and a great script with fabulous lines (Ivy: "I don't smoke!" - Nathaniel: "Because you consider it a weakness?" - Ivy: "Maybe." - Nathaniel: "Am I allowed to be weak, then?").Ivy Poll (played hysterically by Barbara Kowa) has an incestuous relationship with her brother, Sean (sex on legs: Rainer Maria Wittenauer). After her rich father finds out about the sexual relationship of his children, Ivy kills him. That's where the movie starts.The Poll siblings inherit a great mansion, a yacht, and A LOT of money. They are aimless, purposeless; they only seem to live for drugs (ecstasy, dope, cocaine, speed), card games and bizarre sex fantasies. Ivy hires a call-boy, Nathaniel (André Schneider in his best performance so far), in order to break more and more rules. The hustler has a mysterious understanding for his client - he can literally read her mind. To fulfil her kinky sex dreams, he even brings his handicapped brother, Thor (stunning: Gianni Meurer), for a foursome.Throughout the movie, Ivy expresses repeatedly her wish to have a "hand-made set of cards: smooth, good-smelling, thick, sensual and sexual". While on drugs, Nathaniel makes a strange offer: He wants the Polls to skin him in order to make cards out of his skin.With the words, "That's the hottest thing I've ever experienced!", Ivy takes a scalpel and cuts 32 cards out of Nathaniel...Although I prefer Biermann's shorter films, like "Coda" or "Zwischen Flieder wandern und singen", I must say that "Deed Poll" is a high art product. A thoughtful, atmospheric picture with sexy moments, some good camera angles, and an ending that certainly leaves no-one untouched.Thriller fans will rejoice!

demunfallopferseinefrau I like dark movies. I like porn. I thought "Deed Poll" was a good combination. It was. A hustler's getting killed for sexual stimulation.Pro: André Schneider's fine performance gave me the chills and Rainer-Maria Wittenauer was pure eye-candy. The fact that we get to see an erection a great bonus. The cameraman did a good job. The whole thing is well-written.Contra: Barbara Kowa's overacting annoyed me. She's wearing a terrible wig and is hysterical throughout the movie. The whole Ivy character is horrible! The sound quality is poor, poor, poor! Why couldn't they afford a better sound system?All in all: a good movie, made under very bad circumstances, with a great plot, a good ending, and a bad leading lady.

Coughly "Deed Poll" is the movie to prove that Barbara Kowa is the next Sharon Stone. Her sexy performance reminded me of Stone's performance in "Basic Instinct".Like Catherine Tramell, Ivy Poll is a deeply disturbed and dangerous character: sad and vulnerable, yet deadly. After she had killed both her parents ("I was following an impulse!"), she and her brother hire a call-boy to celebrate their re-gained freedom. As the bisexual S&M sex games progress, more and more drugs are taken, and the call-boy finally sheds his skin.After sitting through this dark and moody little shocker, I listened to Cole Porter's "I've Got You Under My Skin" all night long.Unfortunately, "Deed Poll" is hard to find, but if you get your hands on it, you will surely enjoy it. In about ten years, this will be a cult film, just like "Se7en".