PHOENIX (Christian Petzold) A Films We Like release. 98 minutes. Subtitles. Rating: NNNN
Watch online: iTunes
The latest collaboration between Nina Hoss and Petzold (Barbara) is driven by her superb performance as Nelly, a concentration camp survivor who returns to her hometown in Germany to find her husband, Johnny (Ronald Zehrfeld), who may have betrayed her to the Nazis. When she catches up with him, he doesn’t recognize her, but enlists her in a morally questionable cash grab.
I’ll piss off too many viewers if I reveal more about the brilliant premise, but trust me when I say the mood, setting and characters are superbly crafted.
And as Nelly, who fantasizes she can go back to her old life, Hoss embodies trauma as if she’s actually experienced it herself .
A story about characters and a country that have lost their way, Phoenix is stunning.
Don’t miss: Phoenix’s Christian Petzold and Nina Hoss explain why their collaboration works
susanc@nowtoronto.com | @susangcole
