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PHOENIX – The Review – We Are Movie Geeks

Review

PHOENIX – The Review

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Phoenix Ronald Zehrfeld Nina Hoss

A concealed gun, a smoky nightclub, a reconstructed and bandaged face; all of these pulpy elements are set upon a backdrop of post-war Berlin. When described like that PHOENIX sounds like a nod to the black and white film-noir genre. But director Christian Petzold is interested in much more. He has his sights on presenting a story of betrayal and intrigue, while placing under the cold and dark imagery a sort-of redemptive hope. Not unlike the name of the nightclub that the film shares its title with. His confident and succinct style works well with the lean story, but I’m not quite sure the story is infused enough with these themes to make much of an impression.

Nelly Lenz (Nina Hoss) is a Holocaust survivor who goes under the knife to correct her deformed features following her mistreatment during the war. Her friend Lene (the wonderful Nina Kunzendorf, whose character is strong enough to warrant her own film) takes Nelly under her wing and gives her clothes and a roof over her head in post-war Berlin. “I no longer exist,” Nelly mutters to her friend. She longs for the life she had before the war. So she sets out night after night to find her husband Johnny (Ronald Zehrfeld) whom she lost contact with during the war. One night she finds him in a smoky nightclub called Phoenix. The symbolism of the glowing red letters amid the dark ashes of a bombed city is not lost on the audience. Johnny, now going by Johannes, doesn’t recognize her. Any yet he’s still drawn to her due to a plan he has to gain money from his wife’s estate. So the two of them work together to have Nelly learn to be the “Nelly” he was married to.

Again, even though she has the same voice and mannerisms, he doesn’t recognize her due to her slightly different face. Really? If you can’t get past this central conceit than you’re in trouble. But Petzold does a fine job making this ridiculous plot point seem completely believable. Much of this has to do with the committed performances of the two leads. Like the masters of silent cinema, Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin, Nina Hoss uses her eyes to emote as her face remains rigid and despondent. In a role that could have come across as far too slimy and cruel, Ronald Zehrfeld gives Johnny just enough humanity to make him not detestable. He never reaches the level of crazy that Jimmy Stewart inhabits in VERTIGO, even though there is clearly some similarities at play.

PHOENIX  ein Film von CHRISTIAN PETZOLD mit  NINA HOSS und RONALD ZEHRFELD.Die Geschichte einer Holocaust Ueberlebenden die mit neuer Intentität herausfinden will ob ihr Mann sie verraten hat. Story on a woman who has survived the Holocaust. Presumedly dead, she returns home under a new identity to find out if her husband betrayed her Phoenix. Il racontera l'histoire, après la Seconde Guerre Mondiale, d'une femme qui a survécu à l'Holocauste. Tout le monde la croit morte. Elle revient chez elle sous une nouvelle identité et découvre que son mari l'a trahie... ACHTUNG: Verwendung nur fuer redaktionelle Zwecke im Zusammenhang mit der Berichterstattung ueber diesen Film und mit Urheber-Nennung PHOENIX  ein Film von CHRISTIAN PETZOLD mit  NINA HOSS und RONALD ZEHRFELD.Die Geschichte einer Holocaust Ueberlebenden die mit neuer Intensität herausfinden will ob ihr Mann sie verraten hat. Story on a woman who has survived the Holocaust. Presumedly dead, she returns home under a new identity to find out if her husband betrayed her Phoenix. Il racontera l'histoire, après la Seconde Guerre Mondiale, d'une femme qui a survécu à l'Holocauste. Tout le monde la croit morte. Elle revient chez elle sous une nouvelle identité et découvre que son mari l'a trahie... ACHTUNG: Verwendung nur fuer redaktionelle Zwecke im Zusammenhang mit der Berichterstattung ueber diesen Film und mit Urheber-Nennung

The film has the post-war scenery and shadows that recall THE THIRD MAN. But it’s much more modest in its approach. Utilizing only a handful of locations, PHOENIX captures the dreary look and tone of this period in time. Maybe too well, in fact. The film maintains this forlorn sadness throughout. There’s not so much a heaviness to this drama as much as there’s a consistent monotone whimper. A deliberate and contemplative pace is given to a story that already lacks any narrative punch.

That is until the finale. After a final act reveal that feels manipulatively hidden from a character for no reason, we get to the shining moment of the film. Can the “fake Nelly” convince her family that she’s the “real Nelly?” Of course we know that they’re really one in the same but the excitement resides in watching the family’s reactions. It’s a riveting albeit short sequence that finally gives the film meaning. Then it is all capped off with a sequence that feels so subtle and yet so, sooooo perfect.

Even though I wasn’t wild about the calculated coldness that Christian Petzold maintained in PHOENIX, I’m at least intrigued enough to visit other films in his filmography. PHOENIX purposefully isn’t a soaring post-war film-noir. But man, does that ending really light up the screen.

 

 

Overall rating: 3 out of 5

 

PHOENIX opens Friday, August 14, in St. Louis at the Landmark Plaza Frontenac Cinema

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I enjoy sitting in large, dark rooms with like-minded cinephiles and having stories unfold before my eyes.