MOVIE REVIEW : Two Amusing Looks at Love at Nuart

German filmmaker Katja von Garnier’s effervescent, 55-minute “Makin’ Up” and Louis Venosta’s distinctive 35-minute “The Coriolis Effect” add up to an amusing commentary on the state of relations between men and women today. We most certainly are going to hear more from both Von Garnier and Venosta.

Von Garnier’s vignette, which won a student film Oscar, is a witty farce about what even the most attractive and vibrant young women have to put up with in the search for suitable men. Maischa (Nina Kronjager), a blond cartoonist, has pretty much retreated from the fray, drawing inspiration for her comic strip from the romantic exploits of her vivacious best friend, a tall brunette nurse nicknamed Frenzy (Katja Riemann, who recalls Geena Davis in her looks and infectious giddiness).

At the moment Frenzy has set her sites on the handsome Rene (Gideon Burkhard), who on their first date asks her to bring along a friend for his best pal Mark (Max Tidof). Pressed into going, Maischa realizes immediately that she and Max have literally crossed paths before--and not fortuitously.

Nothing that develops can be said to be unpredictable, but Von Garnier manages to make every turn seem fresh and wryly funny. She’s a sharp, stylish observer of the challenge modern women face in squaring away their freedom and independence with their attraction to the opposite sex and their longing for love. She has a sure way with both the camera and her cast, which sparkles under her direction.

The people of “The Coriolis Effect,” which was named the best short film at Venice this year, are not as sophisticated as those of “Makin’ Up,” but Venosta is every bit as assured a director as Von Garnier.

Ray (Dana Ashbrook) and Stanley (James Wilder) are best friends, U.S. Weather Service scientists working in the Texas Panhandle and specializing in chasing tornadoes. Just as Ray’s girlfriend (Corinne Bohrer) has admitted, in a burst of unwelcome honesty, that she’s slept with Stanley, a tornado starts brewing.

In his film debut, Venosta manages to make turbulent emotions and weather echo each other without lots of heavy-handed symbolism or rigid symmetry. As Ray and Stanley begin working out the crisis in their friendship, they encounter the alluring and mysterious Ruby (Jennifer Rubin, always a radiant presence) who’s a force of nature herself.

* MPAA rating: Unrated. Times guidelines: Neither film is heavy on sex or nudity, but both focus on adult themes and situations.

‘Makin’ Up’ (‘Abgeschminkt!’)

Katja Riemann: Frenzy

Nina Kronjager: Maischa

Gideon Burkhard: Rene

Max Tidof: Mark

A Seventh Art Releasing presentation of a Vela-X/HFF production. Director-editor Katja von Garnier. Producer Ewa Karlstrom. Screenplay by Von Garnier, Benjamin Taylor, Hannes Jaenicke. Cinematographer Torsten Breuer. Costumes Birgit Aichele. Music Peter Wenke, Tillmann Hohn. Art directors Irene Edenhofer, Nikolai Ritter. In German with English subtitles. Running time: 55 minutes.

‘The Coriolis Effect’

Dana Ashbrook: Ray

James Wilder: Stanley

Corinne Bohrer: Suzy

Jennifer Rubin: Ruby

A Seventh Art Releasing presentation of a Secondary Modern Motion Pictures production. Writer-director Louis Venosta. Producer Kathryn Arnold. Cinematographer Paul Holohan. Editor Luis Colina. Music Hal Lindes. Production designers Michael Hartog, Bjarne Slettland. Running time: 35 minutes.

* In limited release at the Nuart Theatre, 11272 Santa Monica Blvd., West Los Angeles, (310) 478-6379.