Fish Takes Off (2019)

• 75%
• 2019
• Deniz Raunig
• Salka Weber
• Alessandro Bressanello
• Julia Edtmeier

The golden fish is dead. Gripped by a bad conscience a young woman takes off to Venice. As she stands on the Rialto Bridge, ready to surrender the fish to the sea, she realizes that saying goodbye won't make a difference: the feeling would still be there. With the cool box in her hand she flees the tourist masses that are already flooding the city at dawn. She meets a friend in a dimly-lit alley, who tries to convince her to return to her regular life, but the young woman is torn between two emotions. On a nightly stroll through the city she meets a Canadian couple. They trigger an insight into her future. Is this what a happy life looks like? In a bar she encounters a group of illustrious loners. Silent eye contact with a desperate writer. Did she stop him from suicide in another life? Disco star Pino D'Angio and a guest discuss the hearsay surrounding the young woman. A gondolier sings a love song. The young woman leaves the bar but the gondolier overtakes her at a small plaza. Turns out, he's not Italian, he's French. Pino D'Angio sings one of his greatest hits and the Frenchman dances for her. The young lady is captivated. Back at his place she realizes her horizon so far has not been much broader than that of her poor fish. When her girlfriend returns, she feels confident enough to conquer the fears together. The next morning she wakes up to a trashed hotel room. Her girlfriend is gone, the former night's promises broken. But for the young lady there's no turning back.