This was originally published for cutprintfilm.com back in July of 2015. But since the site/publication has apparently vanished - I'm posting it here with a few updates. Enjoy...
On one hand, Phoenix
is a callback to certain specific cinematic elements that I appreciate very
very much. It has the spirit of a lesser-praised German New
Wave film from the late 70’s (The Left
Handed Woman, The Last Days Of Katarina Blum, The American Soldier, The
American Friend, etc) combined with the noir-ish qualities of a Neil Jordan
film (The Crying Game, Mona Lisa, etc). Phoenix also
falls in line with other semi-recent German-based WW2/Post-WW2 films like Carlos, Sophie Scholl &
The Baader Meinhof Complex (some of you might be scratching your head at
the Carlos namedrop but the main
motivation behind the misguided radical German leftists that we saw in Olivier
Assayas’ film was based on extreme anti Nazi-ism that came about from the
second world war which ended up backfiring).
Some might find Phoenix to be a little tedious or, dare I say, a little boring (and if not tedious and/or boring, possibly deceptive?). Within the first act it’s more than obvious that we’re in for some kind of a psychological drama but nothing traditionally “thrilling” or “startling” happens for quite some time, yet we’re almost led to believe otherwise (early on there’s a very potentially cryptic scene that takes place in a hospital that builds up to something that might be seen as anticlimactic or disappointing). It should also be noted that the performances (especially in the first half) are intentionally cold and slightly tense (highlighted particularly by co-star Nina Kunzendorf who plays Nelly’s friend “Lene”). Again – these are aspects that some might appreciate while others might be turned off by. Personally, I don’t mind it. I appreciate slow build-ups and I’m also more interested in things being conveyed through a look, hint or an implication rather than drawn-out dialogue. But I imagine this film was made for an audience larger than just myself so hopefully folks will appreciate what Christian Petzold was trying to do.
In Phoenix we
follow “Nelly” (Nina Hoss) – A concentration camp survivor/lounge singer living
in post World War 2 Berlin. At the very beginning of the film we learn that her
face has been disfigured from her time at the concentration camp and she requires
extensive reconstructive surgery. And to make things worse, it’s quite possible
that her mysterious husband “Johnny” is the cause of it all. Nelly’s new
post-surgery face gives her a new identity (her face is pretty unrecognizable
to those who knew her before the surgery) and she uses this to her advantage. Nelly,
now posing as a different woman, tracks down her husband Johnny to find out if
he really sold her out. The two old lovers strike up a new relationship (Johnny
doesn’t realize it’s Nelly although he does acknowledge the similar facial
features) and Nelly finds herself taking the place of her old self (the
identity switching draws an obvious comparison to films like Vertigo and Lost Highway). Both parties have ulterior motives with each other.
Christian Petzold is no stranger to referencing Hitchcock...
At the beginning of making Yella, I’d seen Hitchcock’s Marnie again. We ordered very expensive tracks that stretched one hundred meters on a train platform, and Nina Hoss had to stand on this platform like Tippi Hedren - Christian Petzold, Criterion.com
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| Marnie / Yella |
And Phoeinx is just another example with this scene right out of Vertigo...
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| Vertigo / Phoenix |
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| The Wrong Man / Phoenix |
Phoenix can be
seen as an obvious take on issues ranging from trust to the idea of “rebirth”.
It’s also a comment on the self worth that women have of themselves and the
sometimes strange loyalty they show for their unworthy male counterparts.
Some might look at Phoenix as a response to something like The Night Porter. In the Night Porter, Charlotte Rampling plays a concentration camp survivor that strikes up a relationship with her former Nazi overseer. In Phoenix we see a female holocaust survivor start up a similarly complicated/detrimental relationship with a man who is the possible cause/source of her pain. The female protagonist is an understated fixture within modern German-based cinema. Besides some of the aforementioned works I referenced earlier on (Katarina Blum, Sophie Scholl, The Left Handed Woman, etc), films like Coup De Grace, Barbara (another collaboration between Petzold & Hoss), The Marriage Of Marina Braun & Lola are further examples. Although not as prolific as most films from the German New Wave movement, Phoenix does come from the same school of thought
If you appreciate modern German cinema (with a
complex female lead) or personal/intimate stories with a historic backdrop, Phoenix might just be up your alley.
