Models (1998)

An insistent cataloguer of the innumerable manifestations of everyday insanity and the absurdity of "normal," mundane existence, Ulrich Seidl blends the techniques of documentary and narrative filmmaking to create unique exposes of the illusions, self-deception, and cultural complacency of the Austrian middle class. In MODELS, Seidl examines that most glamorized segment of the population through a voyeuristic lens, interested more in the banalities of his three subjects' lives than in perpetuating the images of their perfection. Vivian's ambition to be a magazine cover model is paralleled only by her desire for a "real affair," a criterion that neither her boyfriend nor her legion of lovers fulfills. Tanya cultivates a mystical, new age spirituality through tarot cards and yoga, but her love for animals exhibits more than a hint of the bizarre. And Lisa, whose sexual proclivities include only black men, breezily undergoes plastic surgery and sustains herself with cocaine binges. Seidl draws a connection between the women's sex lives and their careers, displaying the models' willingness to commodify themselves, alter themselves, and do whatever it takes to get to the top.