Phoenix

I really should like this more, with its theoretically perfect symbiosis of eerie noir references and their import to post-war trauma and identity reconstruction. But it's still an intellectual/cinematic conceit, and you never shake the feeling that Germany's best current filmmaker is primarily an aesthetics teacher.

Comparisons to Vertigo make sense, but kinda sell the movie short. It's so much more than just Vertigo in a post-WW2 setting, as it takes a low-key approach to tell a story about a country trying to come to grips with the holocaust. It's a great movie - I particularly love the lighting and framing of shots - that is made even better thanks to a knockout ending.

Mezzo Vertigo, mezzo Eyes Without a Face retold with a James Gray melodrama sensibility, so powerful in little gestures, and yet emotionally rewarding without sounding obtuse. As Nina Hoss character plays herself to her ex-husband, Petzold unfolds one of the most unique and subtly powerful war dramas of recent times.

hee hee aynen bilmem kaç yıllık eşini tanımıyor. hee tamam tamam inandık. Aptallar sizi

Strong, character-based film driven by Germany's traumatic national history. Interestingly I felt the crux of the film was not Nelly, the concentration camp victim rising from the ashes to become a new person. It's her husband, the man who must at some point recognise her, but remains in turmoiled denial of his actions until the last beat of the film. Actually the film has a lot more to say about German national identity across history than it does about these ciphers. A fascinatingly deep film.

Some films speak low while they are speaking about love...

A reconciliation, about those who would deny pivotal history and personal trauma in a vain attempt to recapture lost identities. Appropriately evocative of post-war pulp. The plot is contrived, a little far fetched, but unfussy. It's calm and collected, nervy but not melodramatic, and featuring ellipses where others might employ exclamation.

Filmens utgångspremiss är ju inte helt lättsmält,men det accepterar vi ju gladeligen i SciFi-filmer så om detta finns inte så mycket mer att orda. Givet denna är det ändå underligt att mannen aldrig frågar var kvinnan har tillbringat krigsåren. Det finns fler motsvarande underligheter i manus, men det är svårt att skriva om dessa utan att avslöja filmens handling. Både tid och uppmärksamhet och tid slösas vidare på ganska meningslösa bihandlingar istället för att ge en närm

...And just when i thought i had Petzold pegged, he throws a curve ball completely out of left field. This is some of the most interesting thematic material the director has ever worked with, even within the confines of his more genre-indebted recent style, and Nina Hoss' performance is remarkable. Although it makes visual references to Eyes Without a Face, it really feels closer to Almodovar's pseudo-homage to that film, The Skin I Live In. Also, that Kurt Weill song, right?

good movie

I love the way Petzold layers in images that evoke Nelly's past as a camp survivor, making the entire second half of the film something like a reverse playback of her time in the camp, bringing her back to that time before it all happened. This fits in beautifully with the bravura final scene, in which Petzold uses understatement to great effect in order to highlight the critique of "forgetful" post-war culture. I'll quibble a bit with the ludicrousness of Johnny's plan, but otherwise, brilliant

It's more than just a "German Vertigo"; so "Speak Low" please.

What a powerful ending. A magnificent sequence at the end, this is what cinema is. Nina Hoss is stellar and so is Ronald Zehrfeld.

Flawless. Atmosphere, music, even the theatrical acting (that I don't usually like) all work together so well - a great example of what German film schould be like.

A post-WW2 German melodrama that is remarkable for its spare and subtle approach, leading up to an emotionally devastating and perfectly executed ending.

Had me thinking "Vertigo" for the last hour or so. Not quite as suspenseful, so it didn't exactly make me feel vertigo - or like Vertigo did - but it had an absurdly climactic ending scene (one of the best of all time), good performances by the leads, and some memorable setpieces.

Perfect ending

Interesting contrast between Lene and Nelly: Lene is beyond sickened & horrendously betrayed by her homeland, eagerly trying to find any way out, while Nelly (a friggin Auschwitz survivor) just wants to get back into the rhythm of things and become a good German girl again. Nina Hoss was seriously impressive here, and I would not be surprised if she appeared in a bunch of Hollywood prestige pics for the next few years.

The most devastating note.

starts slow but keeps getting better until the end

Slowburn

man, i really need to see EYES WITHOUT A FACE already, but yeah there's plenty here for fans of VERTIGO and THE SKIN I LIVE IN. i do think this becomes less interesting in retrospect when you realise how everything was geared toward that final empowering/cathartic mic drop (which, contrary to popular opinion, i find a little cheap), but the bulk of it is real striking and uncomfortable in the moment. hoss is amazing again.

Star Rating: ★★★1/2

Great performance by Nina Hoss, as a Jewish woman returning from a concentration camp after WWII. A story about forgiveness and the wish to return to a normal life after heavy trauma. The movie looks great and is nicely shot as well as acted.

decent drama with solid ending. but pretty boring in parts.

Good little movie

It is a typical European movie. A bit slow but gripping if you are paying attention. The central premise of the movie (a husband not recognizing his wife who underwent a facial reconstruction) requires a bit of disbelief but other than that the movie hits the right notes. You also wait for the climax which you know will come any moment and it does.

15 Nisan 2015, Sinan Kesova ile Ist. Film Fest. &

The post-war commentary in Phoenix is strong, but not being German, and not being of the era remotely, I can't say how effective it is. The film may require too much historical investment to have an emotional impact.

A very strong character piece about a woman struggling with her identity, her history and her marriage after the horrors of WWII. The ending scene is one for the ages.

This is a really well-made, intriguing film that I ultimately couldn't really connect with ... except for it's really stunning climax.

I'm tempted to see it as a take on the difficulty of making - crafting, staging, playing (and pretending) - any film of a genocide.

With solid references to Hitchcock and Fassbinder, this could have been a way better movie if it didn't feel so constructed.

Nina Hoss is fantastic in this noir-meets-Vertigo. The film has a lot to say about post-war Germany, which is a rarity. The blend of love and betrayal is so well done, concluding with a wonderfully-subtle payoff.