Linkshoch Wonderful Movie

Cathardincu Surprisingly incoherent and boring

FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Paynbob It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

zacknabo One of the international darlings of the New Berlin Film School, Petzold, strikes gold again with Phoenix a twisted Vertigo-ian tale of obsession, identity and a brutal examination of marriage set against the backdrop of bombed out, postwar Berlin. Petzold regular Nina Hoss plays Nelly Lenz, a disfigured concentration camp survivor who is (somewhat) unrecognizable after having her face reconstructed. Once Nelly is well enough she begins a search through the city to find her non-Jewish husband Johnny—played by another Petzold familiar Ronald Zehrfeld—who may or may not have turned Nelly into the Nazis. It is truly a yarn and only grows more complex, bewildering, yet engrossing as the film continues. In terms of plot Petzold has asked the audience to accept a lot…and I mean a lot. Sure. There are a few plot holes along the way, but if the audience makes the stretch to buy the conceit Petzold is selling they will be gratefully rewarded.Quite possibly the most refreshing quality of Phoenix is its melodramatic qualities in a day and age where melodramas just aren't made well. Maybe the term "melodrama" is too strong, but the film certainly does portray some tropes of melodrama. Phoenix visually does bare some resemblance to 1950s Hollywood but the polished, meticulous, "constructed-realism" (which falls just right of the hardcore realism that seems to be the dominant brand of our time) of the interiors and bombed out buildings recalls Fassbinder's melodramas after he fell in love with the films of Douglas Sirk. The color schemes are rich, heightening muted tones and accentuating primary colors, as seen at the Phoenix Club in the American-sector of the city that shines a vibrant, neon blood red. Each color scheme seems to fit every mood to perfection and the wreckage of the city physically and morally works as a perfect mirroring metaphor for the main characters. The performances are perfect. They are rich and refrained. Zehrfeld is wonderful lost in moral ambiguity and at unmasking his demons subtly and with earnest. Hoss and Zehrfeld definitely have a great working chemistry as they worked together in Petzold's last Barbara. As the story progresses the dance the two actors do only deepens. Nelly, who is going by the name Esther, is transforming—at the direction of her unknowing husband—into the Nelly that existed before the war. The obsession comes from Nelly. She will not accept the direction in which all signs are pointing. Johnny only wants to use "Esther" to come back as Nelly so they can receive a survivor's check… I refrain from going to deep and giving away spoilers. What is important is that Petzold is most certainly an artist to keep an eye on, a reputation which he has already established and old perpetuates with the accomplishment of this lush, psychological melodrama that beckons to a time past in film history. In Phoenix he has crafted a complex, flawed, beautiful and heart-wrenching film that makes us question the bounds of love and personal identity and how the foundations of these concepts can be shaken by the larger context of the outside world—in this case WWII and the Holocaust. Though the plot may be a bit much, with some holes here and there, Petzold never lets the story get out of hand, maintaining a very deliberate pace that moves the story along, keeps the complexities of the narrative taut and clear, all the while building tension step by step; tension that reaches the most profound understated crescendo that should leave any viewer stunned.

gizmomogwai Phoenix goes to a time that haunts Germans and Jews alike- the aftermath of the Holocaust- and manages to do something different and make an impact. The film follows survivor Nelly, whose face has been destroyed in the camps and whose facial reconstruction has left her unrecognizable. She's still beautiful, as a friend points out, but that's not enough- she is no longer herself. She finds her husband, and disbelieving her friend's claim he's the one who betrayed her, stays close to him without revealing her identity. He notices her and by coincidence decides to make her over as the old Nelly, in order to collect her inheritance.In making a woman over in the likeness of another, and in fact the two women are one, Phoenix bears similarities to Hitchcock's Vertigo (1958). But the two films go different places with the concept- Phoenix follows the woman, her desire to reclaim her old life and identity, her unwillingness to accept the truth about her husband, how or if she will take her revenge. (Vertigo is more a story about obsession). Her friend gives her a revolver for protection- you'd think that spells out the end, but the end is rather different, chilling and stunning. Phoenix is a film with a powerful voice and meaning, and shouldn't be overlooked.

blanche-2 What a movie.Nina Hoss, Ronald Zehrfeld, and Nina Kunzendorf star in "Phoenix," a 2014 film based on the French novel "Return from the Ashes". There was a previous film made from this novel, actually called Return from the Ashes in 1965. I remembered seeing that movie as a kid and finally found it again. It's very good, but this film is better.Nina Hoss plays Nelly, a concentration camp survivor who was shot in the face. A government worker, Lena (Kunzendorf) in charge of helping victims, brings her to a plastic surgeon. Nelly is adamant that she wants to look exactly as she did before. The doctor can only promise to try. When she asks Lena who is paying for all this, Lena tells her that her entire family is dead and she has come into quite a bit of money.When Nelly sees herself, the face is foreign to her and she says, "I don't exist." She stays in an apartment with Lena. Lena has found an apartment for her in Palestine, where Lena is also moving.Nelly wants to find her husband Johnny (Zehrfeld), a non-Jew, but Lena cautions her that he betrayed her to the Nazis. She was a singer and he a pianist, so she goes to various clubs, but finally finds him working in a club called Phoenix as a dishwasher.Johnny doesn't recognize her, but he asks her if she wants some work. He explains to her that he can't get his hands on his wife's money. He wants her to impersonate Nelly, show up alive, claim her inheritance, and in return, he will pay her.At first, Nelly refuses, then relents. He shows her a photo of Hedy Lamar and says his wife modeled herself on that.Nelly returns to Lena and tells her that she's going to do the impersonation and not go to Palestine. She will stay with Johnny. She knows he would never have betrayed her.Director Christian Pezold has woven noirish tapestry about survival, love, betrayal, and guilt. It is reminiscent of Vertigo but with the specter of the Holocaust, much deeper and intense. Nina Hoss is beyond perfection as Nelly, desperate for her old life, her old face, her husband, to wipe out all she has suffered. Like Zehrfeld, she says more with her expressions than with dialogue. Zehrfeld as Johnny presents a disturbing puzzle of denial and horrific guilt, so unbearable that he tries to recreate Nelly.The last scene in this film, in its simplicity, is stunning and powerful.A brilliant film, which you may want to view more than once to pick up details along the way.

eatlights A wonderful Hitchcockian-like drama that doesn't rush and takes its time telling its story. Beautifully shot and acted. After reading a number of IMDb reviews and after having watched this film I think it's extremely telling that in the main the American reviewers disliked the film and European reviewers got it and enjoyed it. If you have the attention span of a gnat and enjoy having your tale told to you in mile high letters like the majority of the dross Hollywood spits out you should avoid this film. If on the other hand you enjoy a tale well told then give this a go it is certainly worth your time and builds to an ending that will stay with you beyond the credits.