Carsten Tabel - Beaver

The interplay between obsession, imitation and identity is the topic of the new film Beaver by Carsten Tabel. Inspired by Trent Harris‘ cinematic essay The Beaver Trilogy (2001), Tabel betakes into the stream of his own biography. He slips into the role of a married family father, who desiderates being in body and mind of the British supermodel Cara Delivigne. I am not ashamed to say that in fact I would like to be Cara, be blessed with her possibilities, her body and her vitality, which provides her with this absolutely non-threatening aura of power.
Watching the film provokes complex issues due to the documentary-suggested character of reality-TV: How do obsessive behaviour patterns develop? What role do sexual conflicts and traumata of the past play? How does the desire to transform into a foreign and famous person evolve? Tabel stages this profound topic in a humorous manner with a sensitive protagonist, who is able to laugh about himself - but does not have to. The film does not only question the character of reality of our medial environment, but rather shows sensitively the developing identities, interacting with it.