DAY THREE November 5, 2005

by Peter Martin

Writer/director Christian Alvart slows the pace but amplifies the intrigue with the introduction of Michael Martens (Wotan Wilke Moehring), a police officer in a rural village. Martens suffers through a troubled family life, due in part to his obsession with finding the killer of a young local girl. When he learns that Engel survived his violent arrest and confessed to the murder of a dozen boys, Martens travels to the city, hoping to question Engel and close his case. That sets up a series of confrontations between the two men, as simultaneously Martens' domestic problems worsen and his system of beliefs crumbles.

The psychological depth of Alvart's original script has caused many to mistakenly assume that the film is based on a literary source. "Maybe that is from reading books," says Alvart. "I read books en masse when I was a kid. I was always reading. Even sometime in school, under the bench [during class], I was reading something completely different. I just loved books so much."

Raised in a strict religious family, Alvart had few opportunities to see movies during his youth, which only served to spur his imagination. He read everything he could find about cinema so that he could join in on conversations with his friends. He was so convincing that he became something of a film specialist in his peer group without actually having seen very many films. He announced to his family that he wanted to make movies when he was barely in his teens, resulting in uncomfortable conversations with priests about the spiritual dangers of the movie industry.

Alvart made short video and Super-8 movies and spent several years as a film journalist before directing his first feature. When it came time to write ANTIBODIES, he drew upon his own experiences and family background, centering the story on conflicted police officer Michael Martens-- someone much like his younger self.

"I was just interested to put a character like this into a modern day serial killer movie and see what happens," Alvart says. "I think the most important thing that Michael lacks is that he doesn't acknowledge the power and the need of doubt. It's one of the most important things that we have as humans. I tried to put a Satanic figure as the voice of doubt and still have him be right on a lot of subjects, and that is where the serial killer comes from. The characters are just coming from my own inner fight that is going on all the time, and I tried to put several points of view that are fighting within me into different characters."

Coming from Europe, Alvart is, perhaps surprisingly, a staunch defender of the studio system. "Hollywood is not an American movie capital, it's the world movie capital," he says, "because all the talent comes from all over the world. It's not just Americans making the movies, because everyone who wants to make big genre movies is coming here and influencing [things] and making it a very international community. So you cannot just be against it out of nationalism."

ANTIBODIES--screening Saturday, November 5 and Monday, November 7 in ArcLight Theatre 10--has generated a good amount of interest in the film community, and Alvart is ready to take advantage of any opportunities that result. "Right now I want to direct," he says with conviction. Laughing, he adds: "Also, I'm so bankrupt, I have to direct a movie!"

BACK TO DAY THREE