Fantastic Fest 2010 Review: ‘TRANSFER’

A lot of genre films are morality tales that are used to caution viewers. This is especially true when you dive into the science fiction genre.  The devices used to address these issues is usually technology.  In the film Transfer, which comes to us from Germany.  It was my first film of Fantastic Fest 2010 and I only saw it because I wasn’t able to see Enter the Void due to it selling out.  As I would come to learn, missing a film I really wanted to see would not necessarily be a bad thing.

Transfer begins by introducing us to Hermann and Anna, a wealthy elderly couple who are looking into tranferring their souls/lives into the bodies of the youth.  The youthful bodies are willing to do this because they live in poverty and this “loan of flesh” will financially help their families, or so they are told.  At first, Hermann & Anna enjoy their bodies, but soon, morality starts to play with Anna as she questions whether they did the right thing or not.

Essentially, Transfer retells the “Fountain of Youth” story while placing it in a sci-fi capsule.  While the film doesn’t really do anything groundbreaking, there is a lot of good to find in Transfer.

Director Damir Lukacevic weaves a pretty emotional and personal tale about a couple who have the capability of financially going through with this procedure, but no matter what, morals are questioned.  I think this is one of the strengths of Transfer.  The film could have been unbelieveable and rather boring, but Lukacevic really tugs on some heart strings with the events that play out.

The question really becomes more of an ownership and journey of one’s soul.  Even though a physical form can be swapped out, where is the growth and progression of your soul.  Aren’t you cheating death?

On the same token, some of the film seems a bit stale because there is a lot of familiarity behind what we are seeing, which I think is Transfer‘s greatest flaw.

Regardless, Transfer is worth a watch to see what it does so well when addressing the human condition.