There Is No 13

Plot

During the Vietnam War, a soldier remembers the 12 women he has been with. But, there is no 13. The story is told in a very surrealist, often comedic, way, switching genres and styles, mixing absurdist and realist elements.

Reception

When the film screened at Berlin International Film Festival, it polarized the audiences due to it being American, dealing with the Vietnam war. During the screening, there were protests, with some people shouting and someone turning the light in the auditorium on and off a few times. A judge told Sachs that the film should have won a Golden Bear award "because it was the only unusual film" at the festival, and that it didn't only because the jury was worried about the public reaction to the winning film being so controversial.

Cast

Quotes

Remarkable fantasy film [that] gives indications of a new direction in film storytelling, is influenced in his structure by the synthesis of reality and imagination of Fellini, Resnais and Buñuel. Yet this style has been further developed. It is a deeply touching film, (...) surprisingly experienced as a striking and stirring film about the human condition. The distantiation of Brecht is applied in a masterful manner.

I was doing post production on my first film in Rome. There were three cutting rooms in a row. I was in the middle one. Antonioni was on one side and Fellini on the other. I thought if I could touch both walls at the same time I would be injected with genius. Too bad my arms were too short...

Probably Sachs’ best film, certainly his most profound.